TRANSPORT

A14: Northamptonshire

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will work with the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Cabinet Office, the Northamptonshire and South East Midlands LEPs and local authorities to help secure funding for a new junction 10A on the A14 which is required to facilitate the creation of a 60MW renewable energy park and low carbon business park between Burton Latimer and Kettering.

Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport and the Highways Agency are already working closely through a Strategic Partners Group, which includes the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Homes and Community Agency, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and private sector developers, on the transport infrastructure proposals—including the provision of a new junction 10A on the A14—in relation to the East Kettering Development site.
	The Department and the Highways Agency would be happy to work additionally with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Cabinet Office on the provision of transport infrastructure in relation to the proposals for an energy park and low carbon business at this location.

Driving Tests

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of including alcohol awareness training in the driving test assessment; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Highway Code advises drivers not to drink any alcohol before driving; this advice applies to all drivers, regardless of experience. The driving theory test includes questions about the effects of alcohol on a person's ability to drive.
	The Department for Transport believes a more effective route to public awareness of the negative effect of alcohol on drivers is through appropriate pre-test training. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency produces The National Standard for Driver Training that should form the basis of training that approved driving instructors give to their pupils; these include thorough guidance on the appropriate consumption of alcohol prior to driving.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Stephen Hammond: Details of ministerial overseas travel and meetings with external organisations are routinely published every quarter and information covering the period up to the end of March 2014 can be accessed on the Department’s website via the following:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/ministerial-transparency/

Railways

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to further devolve responsibility for railways to the Scottish and Welsh governments and the English regions.

Stephen Hammond: The Government confirmed its support for the principle of further decentralisation of rail franchises in its July 2013 response to the Brown Review of rail franchising. Two propositions from English regions are currently being developed (West Midland Rail) or taken forward (with the Rail North consortium). We are examining the scope for further devolution of rail responsibilities in Wales. The Scottish Ministers already have substantial executive devolved powers in relation to the railways in Scotland.

Railways: Staff

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with train operating companies on changes in staffing for revenue protection functions.

Stephen Hammond: Staffing levels and the roles to which staff are allocated are matters for the train operator, as long as they continue to deliver the services that meet the requirements of the franchise agreement.
	Train operating companies do sometimes inform us of staff restructuring, for example as was explained in the answer to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) on 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 530W.

Railways: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the terms and conditions of the agreement reached between the Welsh and UK Governments in 2012 on the funding of the electrification of (a) the Great Western mainline from Cardiff to Swansea and (b) the Valleys lines.

Stephen Hammond: The agreement is set out in the letters exchanged between the Secretary of State and the Welsh Minister for Local Government and Communities on 13 and 24 July 2012. These letters have already been made public.

Schools: Bus Services

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce a concessionary bus fare scheme for 16 to 18-year-olds to allow them to pay child fare for their school bus passes.

Stephen Hammond: The Government currently has no plans to introduce a national statutory concession for young people. However, we recognise the importance of affordable and accessible bus services in enabling young people to access education, employment and training and note that, while there is no statutory obligation to provide reduced fares to young people, many bus operators and local authorities make discounts available. It is right that local authorities and the bus industry continue to take the lead in improving services for their younger customers, and I encourage them to continue innovating in this area.

Taxis

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to respond to the Law Commission's final report and draft Bill on Taxis and Private Hire Services, published on 23 May 2014.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is considering closely the report and draft Bill concerning taxi and private hire vehicle legislation, which the Law Commission published on 23 May this year. We will be mindful, when responding, of the existing protocol between Government and the Law Commission.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport gave a substantive answer to all parliamentary questions by the time of the 2014 prorogation.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Direct Selling

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the roundtables on nuisance calls and texts met; and when the next roundtable will meet.

Edward Vaizey: The roundtable on nuisance calls and texts last met on 23 September 2013 and since then we have worked with stakeholders to finalise our Nuisance Calls Action Plan, which was published on 30 March of this year. The next roundtable meeting is being arranged and will be confirmed soon subject to diary commitments.

Direct Selling

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when his Department plans to publish draft legislation to amend the legal threshold from substantial damage and distress to nuisance, annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety for the International Commissioner's Office to take enforcement action from substantial damage or distress under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003; and when he expects that legislation to be in force.

Edward Vaizey: We plan to publish a consultation document shortly, which will seek views on proposals to lower the legal threshold for enforcement of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003. Following consultation we will look to implement any reforms as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Gambling

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of adult gambling addicts in Britain; and what proportion of total funding on addressing gambling addiction has come from (a) the NHS, (b) local authorities and (c) the gambling industry;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on treating gambling addiction.

Edward Vaizey: The Health Surveys for England and Scotland showed a rate of problem gambling of around 0.5% of the adult population, around 200,000 people. The Responsible Gambling Trust expects to distribute £6,292,000 on treatment, education and research in 2014-15 and is funded by the gambling industry and further donations; a full list of funders can be found on their website:
	www.responsiblegamblingtrust.org.uk
	The Government do not collate details of any expenditure by local authorities or the NHS on problem gambling. DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with their Department of Health colleagues on a range of matters.

Mass Media: Equal Opportunities

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what advice or guidance his Department provides to employers in the media industry on equality monitoring;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of diversity in employment in public and private sectors of the media industry;
	(3)  what steps his Department plans to take to improve equality monitoring of employment within the media industry; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: Promoting greater equality of opportunity in the workforce is a matter the Government takes seriously. The Government is actively engaging with leading organisations in the media industry who are working together through the Creative Diversity Network to help address the under-representation of ethnic minorities in that sector. The industry will outline the steps it intends to take at a roundtable event in early July. Equality data monitoring is among a number of issues that will be discussed. In addition, Ofcom has a number of duties relating to equality of opportunity, as set out in the Communications Act 2003. These include requiring all UK licensed radio and television broadcasters’ licences to have in place arrangements for promoting equal opportunities in employment on the basis of gender, race and disability, and to review those arrangements with regard to any relevant guidance published by Ofcom.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on redundancy payments for special advisers since May 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The Government publishes annual statements on special adviser numbers and paybill costs, including severance pay. Information for each financial year going back to 2010-11 is available at the following links:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs-october-2013

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Helen Grant: Details of Ministers’ visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-meetings-and-hospitality-data-october-to-december-2013

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Helen Grant: All parliamentary questions, tabled to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the last parliamentary session, received a substantive answer by the time the House prorogued on 14 May 2014.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Borders: Personal Records

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress she has made in introducing universal exit checks; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Government is committed to reintroducing exit checks. By April 2015, comprehensive exit checks will apply on scheduled and commercial air, sea and rail routes.
	We have recently introduced new powers in the Immigration Act 2014 to support embarkation checks at the border, and we continue to work with carriers and port operators to explore the least burdensome way of delivering the exit checks commitment.

Immigration

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 29 April 2014, Official Report, column 662W, on immigration, how many casework outcomes on immigration reconsideration cases have been delivered; whether this is in line with targets agreed with Capita; and what targets have been agreed with Capita for delivering these outcomes.

Karen Bradley: The contract requires Capita to deliver 50,000 casework outcomes (including reconsiderations) within nine months of a complete casework service being developed and agreed with the Home Office. As of 8 June 2014, Capita have already implemented agreed processes to deliver 16,780 casework outcomes on reconsideration cases, which count towards the 50,000 outcome target.
	These are being delivered as part of a phased approach, as further processes are under development to achieve a complete casework service.
	The figures provided have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 28 April 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Tanvir Shah.

James Brokenshire: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 18 June 2014.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of redundancy payments for special advisers in her Department has been since May 2010.

Karen Bradley: No redundancy payments have been made to special advisers in the Home Office since May 2010.

Offences against Children: Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests in the UK have resulted from Operation Rescue; how many charges were brought following those arrests; how many open investigations remain from those identified; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: Operation Rescue was an investigation into a website that promoted the distribution of Indecent Images of Children. From 2007 to 2011, 240 intelligence packages were disseminated by the SOCA affiliated Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to police forces across the UK.
	At the end of the intelligence dissemination phase of the operation in 2011 CEOP had been notified of 121 arrests; of these 33 individuals were convicted and seven cautioned.
	Further information regarding charges, convictions and open investigations is handled at a local level by the relevant police force and is not recorded centrally.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what visits each of the Ministers in her Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Karen Bradley: Home Office Ministers have meetings with and make visits to a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	Details of these meetings and visits are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

UK Visas and Immigration

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to her letter to the Director General, UK Visas and Immigration, of 1 May 2014 on behalf of a constituent, CTS ref M5845/14.

Karen Bradley: The Director General responsible for Immigration Enforcement, responded to the hon. Member on 17 June 2014.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Sovereignty

Michael Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the charges made by external (a) public affairs consultants, (b) creative agencies and (c) printing, logistics and delivery companies for work relating to the production of the booklet, What staying in the United Kingdom means for Scotland;
	(2)  what the total cost was of production and delivery of the booklet, What staying in the United Kingdom means for Scotland; and what proportion of such costs relate to (a) research, verification and co-ordination, (b) writing, editing, sub-editing and proofing of the text, (c) photography, design, artwork and licensing, (d) printing, (e) distribution and delivery and (f) related communications, administration and public affairs support.

Greg Clark: The total cost to-date of What Staying in the United Kingdom Means for Scotland is £723,501 (plus VAT).
	Each booklet cost around 30p to design, produce, print and deliver to every household in Scotland. As is standard practice, detail and spending data will published in the Cabinet Office transparency returns.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy Supply

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the UK's security of energy supply.

Edward Davey: The UK enjoys a stable and secure energy supply, and we are working hard to ensure that it continues. As a Government, we are actively managing a number of risks to our current and future energy supplies, including the current challenges from Iraq, Russia and Ukraine. Our recent national gas risk assessment demonstrated that our gas infrastructure is robust. The measures recently announced by National Grid respond to the energy crunch that, owing to the legacy of under-investment and neglect, was predicted for this winter, but which will not now happen.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much of mean electricity generation in the UK will be represented by the proposed development at Navitus Bay over its lifetime.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not undertake analysis or hold information of this nature relating to specific developments. Provisional data for 2013 is that total UK electricity generation was 356,649 Gigawatt hours (GWh). Based on the average five year offshore wind load factor from 2008 to 2012 inclusive of 33.1% a wind farm of 1 Gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity is expected to produce 2.9 GWh of electricity generation. The Department publishes estimated energy and emissions projections to 2030, the latest update can be accessed at this link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2013

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  in determining the reduction in UK carbon dioxide emissions arising from Navitus Bay, what allowance his Department for UK carbon dioxide emissions from backup baseload generation to cover (a) for maintenance and repair downtime and (b) for the failure of the wind to blow in the operating range;
	(2)  what fraction of mean rated output will be achieved on average throughout the lifetime of Navitus Bay;
	(3)  what the global mean carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the oceans will be (a) at the outset and (b) at the end of the Navitus Bay lifetime, if the project goes ahead, (c) at the end of the Navitus Bay lifetime, if the project does not go ahead.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not undertake analysis or hold information of this nature relating to specific developments. The average load factor for offshore wind farms using five year historical data from 2008 to 2012 inclusive is 33.1%.

EDUCATION

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the payment of £97,000 made by his Department to the Third Millennium Education Trust on 29 November 2012 was a grant secured through the Sponsor Capacity Fund.

Edward Timpson: Third Millennium Education Trust was awarded £97,000 during the 2012/13 sponsor capacity funding round. The information is published online here:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-department-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25-000
	These funds were subsequently returned to the Department by the sponsor, Zail Enterprises Ltd.

Education: Basic Skills

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department has taken to ensure a high standard of teaching in numeracy and literacy.

Elizabeth Truss: We have published a more rigorous curriculum for English and mathematics. The new national curriculum sets expectations that match those in the highest-performing education jurisdictions in the world, challenging pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market. It increases the level of demand from an early age, with greater emphasis on arithmetic, including learning times tables to 12 x 12 by age nine and removing calculators from key stage 2 tests in mathematics, and on phonics, grammar and vocabulary development in English. GCSEs in English language and mathematics are also being reformed to be more challenging and give stronger guarantees of literacy and numeracy, with the mathematics GCSE in particular covering more than the current GCSE.
	We are confident that our reform to the national curriculum will give teachers greater flexibility and freedom, which will help to raise standards and expectations for all pupils. It has been significantly slimmed down and will free-up teachers to use their professional judgment to provide support that best meets the needs of their pupils.
	We have invested in and reformed initial teacher training (ITT) to focus on attracting the very best graduates with the right qualities for teaching into the profession through making more scholarships available; using bursaries to attract more of the most talented graduates in key subjects such as maths and physics and supporting the expansion of the highly-successful Teach First programme. Teach First is now the largest graduate recruiter in any sector in the United Kingdom.
	In 2013/14, we recruited 96% of the overall number of trainees we set out to recruit and the proportion with first-class or 2:1 degrees has risen 3 percentage points (74%) – a record compared to last year (71%). We have raised the bar for entry into ITT by making skills tests tougher, limiting candidates to two re-sits and making passing the tests in literacy and numeracy a requirement before entering, rather than exiting, ITT.
	Sir Andrew Carter has been appointed to lead an independent review about the effectiveness of ITT. As part of this, the review will look at ITT courses for both primary and secondary teaching to consider how well trainees are equipped to become outstanding teachers.

Polling Stations: Schools

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of school closure for local elections on parents and children.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has made no such assessment. Local returning officers can require a school to act as a polling station and may do so where no suitable alternative venue is available. It is often possible for schools to remain open in such circumstances, but whether to close is an operational decision for the head teacher. We expect head teachers to keep schools open whenever it is reasonable for them to do so.
	Where a head teacher decides to close a school on polling day, we expect them to take all necessary steps to minimise any damage to pupils' education. This may include making up the missed day later in the year, or combining the day with one of the five annual training days. We also expect schools to give as much notice as possible to parents of any school closures, including for local elections.

Primary Education: Admissions

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessments he has made of the successes and failures of the differing primary school starting age in other countries such as Finland and Norway;
	(2)  what representations he has received from (a) researchers, (b) academies, (c) pressure groups, (d) parents and (e) people working in education on the appropriate age for children to enter primary education;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of primary school starting age on (a) intellectual development, (b) social mobility and (c) results in (i) GCSE and (ii) A-level examinations.

Elizabeth Truss: Formal school starting ages vary across OECD member states. However it is useful to compare the state provision of education for young children prior to the start of compulsory education as the majority of children in OECD countries have entered the education system at a young age—participation rates in formal child care and pre-school are broadly similar across Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom.
	Research indicates that most countries have published curricula governing the provision of early years education from the ages four to six years which are consistent in their use of learning objectives and expected outcomes. The Department has commissioned the OECD to carry out an international review of pedagogy and practice in the early years to investigate this issue further. We anticipate a report in autumn 2014.
	Research has demonstrated that all-round development is enhanced for those children attending nursery compared to those who do not before starting school. This suggests that attending a formal learning environment from an earlier age is typically beneficial. Furthermore duration in nursery matters, with every month of nursery experience after age two years linked to better intellectual development and improved independence, concentration and sociability at age five with a continued effect at Key Stage 1.
	High quality early years education will help close the attainment gap that already exists by the beginning of primary school between disadvantaged children and their peers. Evidence is clear that children’s learning and development in their early years is crucial to later attainment. The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Project found that high quality early years education is a strong predictor of achievement in English and mathematics later on in school.
	We cannot provide the information requested on representations on this topic. The Department receives a huge volume of mail and representations on education and children’s issues. There would be a disproportionate cost to providing a response in this case.

Schools: Standards

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the current status is of schools placed in special measures in (a) Copeland and (b) Cumbria; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: There is one school judged to require special measures in Copeland. There are 12 schools in special measures in Cumbria.
	Of these 12 schools, nine have received HMI monitoring visits where they have been judged to be either making reasonable progress or their plans are fit for purpose. Two schools are awaiting monitoring visits.
	The Interim Executive Board of Walney School has voted to become an academy on 1 September 2014, sponsored by Queen Katherine Academy Trust. The school was granted an Academy Order in April 2014.

Sixth Form Education: Rural Areas

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on funding sixth forms in rural schools.

David Laws: The Department for Education has received three letters recently on funding sixth forms in rural schools. We recognise the importance of rural schools, many of which are small schools, and the need to maintain access to a local school in rural areas. Often these schools are at the heart of their community.

Special Educational Needs

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  when his Department plans to publish the terms of reference for its review of the resolution of disagreements for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014;
	(2)  when his Department's review of arrangements for complaints and redress for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014 will commence;
	(3)  when his Department plans to publish further details of its review of resolution of disagreements for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014;
	(4)  when his Department will publish further information on pilots testing the role of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in making recommendations on the health and social care aspects of Education, Health and Care Plans.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:
	1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
	2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
	3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
	4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.
	Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.
	The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Elizabeth Truss: Two parliamentary questions tabled to the Department for Education, PQs 198493 (tabled on 13 May 2014) and 198434 (tabled on 12 May 2014), did not receive substantive answers by the time of prorogation. The questions had reply-on dates during prorogation, and therefore could not be answered due to the House's rules regarding notice periods.
	As a courtesy, both Members have been sent copies of the answers that they would have received had the Department been permitted to give the answers in the usual way.

TREASURY

Bilderberg Group

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what capacity he and the Secretary of State for International Development attended the recent Bilderberg Conference in Copenhagen; and whether the visits have been recorded in the register of interests.

Andrea Leadsom: The Chancellor of the Exchequer attended the Bilderberg conference in Copenhagen. All travel undertaken by Treasury Ministers is carried out in line with the Ministerial and Civil Service Management Codes. Details of all ministerial overseas travel are published quarterly:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Business: Loans

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the next dataset of bank lending by postcode from the major UK banks will be released; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: In July 2013 the Government announced that it had reached an agreement with the major UK banks to publish lending data across 10,000 individual postcodes.
	The first dataset was published in December 2013 and shows the outstanding stock of lending that has been committed to customers across three categories; loans and overdrafts to SMEs, mortgages and unsecured personal loans (excluding credit cards).
	The data is published quarterly, and the next publication is expected in July 2014.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average annual cost of childcare in the UK for a child aged (a) two and under, (b) three to four and (c) five and over in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), on 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 538W. This points the hon. Member to, among other sources, the Family and Childcare Trust Annual Cost Survey for 2014 and sets out the action the Government is taking to support families.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) National Savings and Investments staff will be employed administering tax-free childcare in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18 and (iv) 2018-19;
	(2)  what performance indicators he has agreed with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) on the delivery of tax-free childcare; how often NS&I will be benchmarked against such indicators; how often the results of this benchmarking will be made available; what penalties have been agreed for poor performance against these indicators; and if he will make a statement.

Nicky Morgan: On 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of child care accounts within Tax-Free Childcare. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of child care accounts.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of the report entitled, Evaluating alternative market models for Tax-Free Childcare vouchers, prepared by Economic Insight for his Department; what assessment he made of this report's findings and recommendations; and whether these recommendations informed the operation and design of his Department's policy on tax-free childcare.

Nicky Morgan: Economic Insight were asked to consider whether there are any reasons why a private sector competitive market for child care accounts might not function well. It compared it to a closed model in which there is competition to select a limited number of private sector child care account providers. It concluded that there were no reasons why a competitive market could not function effectively as parents would be able to assess the differences between the offers and choose accordingly.
	On 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of child care accounts within Tax-Free Childcare. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of child care accounts.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what support his Department will give child care providers on the introduction of tax-free child care.

Nicky Morgan: The Government's response to the consultation on design and operation of tax-free child care, published on 18 March 2014, sets out that the Government will work with stakeholders to develop guidance and communications to support child care providers to understand the scheme.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish any cost benefit analysis of awarding the contract for the tax-free child care scheme to National Savings & Investments undertaken before the decision was announced.

Nicky Morgan: On 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of child care accounts within tax-free child care. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of child care accounts.
	This and the previous consultation has set out options for delivering child care accounts through the public and private sector so that all interested parties will have had an opportunity to comment on them. These options will be assessed against the criteria set out in the consultation document, “Tax-Free Childcare: consultation on childcare account provision”:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/313878/PU1667_Tax-Free_Childcare__consultation_on_childcare_account_provision.pdf

Mapeley

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the private finance initiative contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Mapeley Steps Contractor Limited was entered into.

David Gauke: The private finance initiative contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Mapeley Steps Contractor Ltd was entered into on 2 April 2001.

Mortgages: Glasgow

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Glasgow North constituency have used the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme to date.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government publishes quarterly official statistics relating to the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme. The first of these were published on 29 May 2014.
	This report, along with accompanying tables, can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-march-2014

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Andrea Leadsom: Details of Ministers' visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Andrea Leadsom: None.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Animal Experiments: Yorkshire and the Humber

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions his Department has had with B&K Universal Ltd, Yorkshire Evergreen or their associates about their planning application for a facility at Grimston, Yorkshire for the breeding of dogs and other animals for laboratory use in the last 12 months.

Nicholas Boles: There have been no discussions between my Department and this company or their associates in the last 12 months. However, I can confirm that a planning appeal of an application to develop their facilities has recently been received, necessitating standard procedural communications with the Planning Inspectorate.

Council Tax

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the revenue that would be generated from additional council tax bands on higher value homes, broken down by (a) the total revenue generated UK wide, (b) the total generated in the Greater London region and (c) a breakdown for each threshold and band value (i) UK wide and (ii) in the Greater London region.

Brandon Lewis: No assessment has been made as we have no intention of introducing higher council tax bands.
	Council tax re-banding would require a wholesale council tax revaluation, hitting ordinary home owners with higher taxes, especially those who have undertaken home improvements. Fundamentally, council tax is not a wealth tax; it is a local charge for the use of local services. The current banded system is intentionally designed to avoid the flaws and inequities of both the poll tax and of domestic rates, the former which taxed multiple-adult homes too much, and the latter which taxed both family homes and pensioner households too much.
	I would note that the last Labour Government and Welsh Assembly Government jointly undertook a council tax revaluation and re-banding exercise in Wales in 2005. Four times as many homes moved up one or more bands than moved down. Two-thirds of the net rises were among homes (originally) in Bands A to C, meaning that those on more modest incomes were hardest hit.
	Labour Ministers originally claimed that revaluation was revenue-neutral, but this was not the case. In the first year of the revaluation, council tax income rose by 10 percent, of which 4% was due to that year's increase in Band D rates, and 6% due to more properties in higher bands due to the revaluation (Welsh Assembly Government, “Submission to the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government, Annex B: Council Tax Revaluation and Rebanding 2005” Chronology and Facts, March 2006). To place that in context, a 6% rise in council tax receipts in England would today represent a sustained tax increase on hard-working people of £1.4 billion a year, every year.
	As the then Chairman of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Phyllis Starkey (the then Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes South West), observed:
	“The Welsh Assembly-I believe it was my party, but I am not making an excuse for it-took advantage of the revaluation hugely to increase the total [tax] take”
	(3 February 2010, Official Report, column 383).
	Instead of finding new ways to tax people, this Government has given extra funding to town halls to help freeze council tax. We cancelled any plans for a council tax revaluation. We have handed local residents new rights to veto big local tax hikes, so local people have the final say on the amount they pay. Council tax in England more than doubled under the Labour Government; under this Government, bills have fallen by 11% in real terms, giving families financial security and helping hard-working people with the cost of living.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities what visits each of the Ministers in the Government Equalities Office have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Helen Grant: Details of Ministers’ visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-meetings-and-hospitality-data-october-to-december-2013

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

General Election 2010

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission 
	(1)  in which 100 wards in which constituency in the UK turnout for voting at the polling station was lowest at the 2010 general election;
	(2)  in which local authority wards in which constituency postal ballot turnout was greater than 90 per cent at the 2010 general election.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission does not hold the data requested at ward level. The Commission collects electoral data at each set of polls down to the level of individual contests, which means that it holds only ward level data for local elections.

CABINET OFFICE

Conditions of Employment: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people employed on zero-hour contracts in Bolton North East constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Neil Wooding, dated June 2014
	In the absence of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people employed on zero-hours contracts in Bolton North East constituency. (200973)
	Estimates of the numbers and characteristics of people in employment on zero-hours contracts are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a survey of people resident in households. The LFS asks people in employment if their job has any flexible working arrangements and, if so, to identify them from a list of employment patterns. "Zero-hours contract" is listed and is described as a contract ‘where a person is not contracted to work a set number of hours, and is only paid for the number of hours that they actually work’.
	Unfortunately, we are unable to provide the data at constituency level. It is only the LFS that enables a breakdown by geography. However, the LFS sample size is not large enough to reliably support estimates of the number of people on zero-hours contracts by constituency.
	In January 2014 ONS undertook a survey of businesses to obtain an employer-based estimate to complement the existing LFS employee-based figure. Results from this survey were published on 30 April 2014:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/contracts-with-no-guaranteed-hours/zero-hours-contracts/art-zero-hours.html
	This adopted a slightly different definition to the LFS, and reported on the number of employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, which provided work in the survey reference period. This estimate includes, but is not exclusively, “zero-hours contracts” and covers some other contract types that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours.
	According to the LFS for the three-month period October to December 2013, there were an estimated 583,000 people on a zero-hours contract in the UK. For the ONS business survey, there were 1.4 million employee contracts that did not guarantee a minimum number of hours, which provided work in the survey reference period of the fortnight beginning 20 January 2014. This is higher than the LFS figure for a number of reasons:
	i. employers and employees will have differing perceptions and awareness about the types of employment contracts used;
	ii. the employer survey will count employee contracts, not people, and win provide higher estimates (as one person can have more than one contract);
	iii. employers in the business survey may report multiple contracts for each job;
	iv. the questions asked of respondents differed slightly, with the business survey asking about contracts not guaranteeing any hours, while the LFS question uses the term “zero-hours contracts”;
	v. the LFS includes all people in employment (including the self-employed) while the business survey only includes employees.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Swales: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department has spent on redundancy payments for special advisers since May 2010.

Francis Maude: The Government publishes annual statements on special adviser numbers and paybill costs, including severance pay. Information for each financial year going back to 2010-11 is available at the following links:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs-october-2013

Pay: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people who are paid at a rate below the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation in Bolton North East constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Neil Wooding, dated June 2014
	In the absence of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, ! have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who are paid at a rate below the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation in Bolton North East constituency (200967).
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Hourly levels of earnings are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, whose earnings for the survey pay period were not affected by absence. It is not possible to estimate the number of people with earnings below specified thresholds, though it is possible to estimate the corresponding proportion of employee jobs. Figures relate to employee jobs, which are defined as those held by employees and not the self-employed.
	In April 2013, the latest period for which results are available, the Living Wage rate suggested by the Living Wage Foundation was £7.45 for employees who did not work in London. The proportion of employee jobs below this rate in Bolton North East in April 2013 was 21.9%.

Temporary Employment: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people from in Warrington North constituency were employed on temporary or fixed term contracts in each year since 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated June 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people from in Warrington North constituency were employed on temporary or fixed term contracts in each year since 2010. (200918)
	The ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics for local areas using the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	Reliable estimates of the number of people employed on temporary or fixed term contracts in Warrington North constituency cannot be provided because of small sample sizes. Regional estimates are available on the National Statistics website.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Unemployment: Older Workers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of people over 50 had been out of work for over a year in each year since 1994.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Dr Neil Wooding
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of people over 50 had been out of work for over a year in each year since 1994. (200922)
	The table provides estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the number and proportion of people aged 50 and over who have been unemployed for 12 months or more. Estimates are for the period February to April 1994 to 2014 and are seasonally adjusted to account for temporal fluctuations.
	Unemployment by age and duration statistics are estimated from the LFS and are published monthly in Table UNEM01 as part of the Labour Market Statistics release, available here:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-311468#tab-all-tables
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. These are indicated by the guide to quality in the table.
	I hope this meets your requirements.
	
		
			 Number of unemployed people aged 50 and over, by duration—Three months ending April each year, 1994 to 2014, United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted 
			  All aged 50 and over 
			  Unemployed all over 12 months (thousand) As a percentage of all people in age group (%) 
			 1994 290 1.6 
			 1995 241 1.4 
			 1996 209 1.2 
			 1997 184 1.0 
			 1998 156 0.8 
			 1999 134 0.7 
			 2000 113 0.6 
			 2001 93 0.5 
			 2002 86 0.4 
			 2003 88 0.5 
			 2004 74 0.4 
			 2005 80 0.4 
			 2006 87 0.4 
			 2007 84 0.4 
			 2008 89 0.4 
			 2009 116 0.6 
			 2010 155 0.7 
			 2011 174 0.8 
			 2012 189 0.9 
			 2013 191 0.9 
			 2014 178 **0.8 
			 Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 = CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 = CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise. *** 10 = CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV = 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS).

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Chief Scientific Advisers

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many meetings she has had with her Department's Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

Justine Greening: As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what visits each of the Ministers in her Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Alan Duncan: Details of all overseas visits undertaken by DFID Ministers are published under the transparency section of the DFID website and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-secretary-of-state-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-minister-of-state-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-parliamentary-under-secretary-of-state-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations

Palestinians

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research her Department has undertaken into the humanitarian effects of the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza.

Alan Duncan: Israeli movement and access restrictions do tremendous damage to the Palestinian economy; the World Bank has estimated that easing restrictions on Area C alone could increase Palestinian GDP by 35%. In Gaza, Israeli restrictions on movements of goods and people do tremendous damage to the economy and living standards of ordinary people. 80% of the households in Gaza are below the poverty line, and 57% are food insecure. The UN predicts that by 2020 Gaza may no longer be a 'liveable' place.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many parliamentary questions tabled to her Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Alan Duncan: According to departmental records DFID answered all parliamentary questions that required a substantive answer before the 2014 Prorogation.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the £70 million which her Department offered to Yemen in 2013 for emergency food assistance, shelter, clean water and help for people recovering from conflict was provided to that country.

Alan Duncan: DFID is one of the largest humanitarian donors to Yemen. We are committed to tackling the humanitarian crisis in the country including through the £70 million of human assistance we offered in 2013. Last financial year we offered £32 million of assistance, we have already allocated £33 million for this year and the balance of the commitment will be allocated as soon as possible.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many meetings she has had with world leaders to discuss the humanitarian situation in Yemen since 1 January 2013.

Alan Duncan: Tackling the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where we are one of the largest humanitarian donors, is a priority for DFID. As such, DFID Ministers have played a leading role in galvanising international efforts and encouraging others to do more. This has involved regular discussions with senior global leaders both in the specifically convened Friends of Yemen, but also during regular meetings with partners to discuss humanitarian issues.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the budgeted spend is for humanitarian aid for Yemen for the next two years.

Alan Duncan: DFID has already committed £33 million in assistance for this financial year and we are in the process of assessing where we should allocate further funds and at what scale.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Bankruptcy

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will review the level of the debt threshold for a creditor bankruptcy petition.

Jennifer Willott: We plan to review the debt threshold for a creditor bankruptcy petition this year.

Disabled Students’ Allowances: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency are eligible for disabled students allowance (DSA); and how many such people will be negatively affected by proposed changes to DSA.

David Willetts: Information on students awarded and paid disabled students’ allowance (DSA) is published annually by Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England’. The latest statistics are available at the following link:
	http://www.slc.co.uk/media/694170/slcsfr052013.pdf
	A further breakdown for Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency has been provided in the table for the academic year 2012/13. Equivalent figures for the academic year 2013/14 will be available from November 2014.
	Current DSA recipients and disabled students applying for DSAs in 2014/15 will not be affected by these changes in 2015/16.
	We are currently consulting with a wide range of stakeholders and are working through the detail of how the changes will work in practice, including the number of students affected.
	
		
			 Students in receipt of disabled students allowance1 from Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency, academic year 2012/13, effective date: 13 November 2013 
			 Number of applicants paid 
			  Application Type  
			 Area Full-time application Part-time application Post graduate DSA Total 
			 Birmingham, Selly Oak2 120 10 10 140 
			 1 Disabled student allowance may be paid to the student or to a supplier on the student's behalf. 2 Figures are derived from the postcode of the applicant's home address. Notes: 1. The effective date is that of the November 2013 Awards Statistical First Release. The figures are therefore provisional and do not include students who were awarded DSA after November 2013. 2. DSA payments may be made at any point during the Academic Year or after the end of the academic year. 3. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not add to the sum of the components due to rounding.

Foundation Degrees

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of foundation degrees have been delivered by (a) further education colleges and (b) universities in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of foundation degree students continued to a honours degree in each of the last 10 years;
	(3)  how many students have (a) started and (b) completed a foundation degree in each of the last 10 years.

David Willetts: The available information is shown in the tables. The tables have been compiled by the Higher Education Funding Council and describe the number of foundation degree entrants (Table 1) and qualifiers (Table 2) and those who transfer from HEIs to honours degree level (Table 3a and 3b). The Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) has derived these figures from the HESA standard population (HEIs) and the equivalent population at further education colleges (FECs). Some of the data have been published in the 2010 HEFCE report “Foundation Degree: Key statistics 2001/02 to 2009/10”.
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2010/201012/10_12.pdf
	It has not been possible for HEFCE to complete time series data for FECs for all years because of the disproportionate cost in providing this analysis.
	The number and proportion of UK-domiciled foundation degree entrants at higher education institutions and further education colleges in England between 2004/05 and 2012/13, split by the type of registering institution.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of foundation degree entrants (UK-domiciled foundation degree entrants at HEIs and FECs in England) 
			  Type of registering institution  
			  HEI FEC  
			 Year of entry Number Percentage Number Percentage Total 
			 2004-05 14,785 75 4,800 25 19,585 
			 2005-06 20,750 77 6,180 23 26,930 
			 2006-07 24,510 73 8,325 25 33,735 
			 2007-08 31,370 77 9,400 23 40,770 
			 2008-09 35,600 75 11,900 25 47,495 
			 2009-10 38,865 71 14,200 26 54,950 
			 2010-11 35,685 71 13,125 26 49,920 
			 2011-12 33,845 70 13,770 28 48,350 
			 2012-13 21,090 59 14,150 40 35,700 
			 Notes: 1. Figures up to 2008-09 are as published in "Foundation degree: Key statistics 2001-02 to 2009-10" (Table 3 of HEFCE 2010/12) http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2010/201012/10_12.pdf 2. Figures from 2009-10 to 2012-13 are unpublished, but drawn from Regional Profiles analysis of the same population as earlier years. 3. Full person equivalent (FPE) numbers, which have been rounded to the nearest 5. 4. 2012-13 data are provisional and subject to change. Source: HEFCE analysis of the HESA standard registration population at English HEIs, and the equivalent population at English further education colleges, 2005-06 to 2012-13. 
		
	
	The figures since 2009/10 show a decline in foundation degree entrants registered at English HEIs with a particularly sharp decline in 2012/13. Some of the reasons for this trend are discussed in the HEFCE report “Undergraduate courses other than first degrees: an analysis of recent trends” published in April 2014:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2014/201408c/HEFCE2014_08c.pdf-
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of foundation degree qualifiers (UK-domiciled foundation degree qualifiers at HEIs and FECs in England) 
			  Type of registering institution 
			  HEI FEC 
			 Year of foundation degree qualification awarded Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 2004-05 4,615 1— 1— 1— 
			 2005-06 7,225 1— 1— 1— 
			 2006-07 8,995 1— 1— 1— 
			 2007-08 11,435 1— 1— 1— 
			 2008-09 14,355 72 5,530 28 
			 2009-10 19,500 75 6,390 25 
			 2010-11 21,520 73 7,870 27 
			 2011-12 25,200 2— 1— 2— 
			 2012-13 23,245 2— 1— 2— 
		
	
	
		
			 1 Not Available 2 Not Applicable Notes: 1. Figures prior to 2008/09 were neither derived or published for FECs because of incomplete data on qualifications awarded being recorded on the Individual Learning Record (ILR). 2. Figures for FECs from 2011/12 can be provided only at disproportionate cost. No information available. 3. Figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are unpublished, but drawn from updated analysis of the same population and on the same basis as earlier years 4. HESA standard qualifications obtained at English HEIs from 2011/12. These figures are similar but not directly comparable with earlier years. 5. Full person equivalent (FPE) numbers, which have been rounded to the nearest 5. Source: HEFCE analysis of the HESA standard qualifiers population at English HEIs, and the equivalent population at English further education colleges, 2005-06 to 2012-13 
		
	
	Table 3a and 3b shows the number of UK domicile students being awarded a foundation degree who progress in the following academic year from an HEI to study an Honours Programme. Table 3a is not comparable with Table 3b. The figures shown in Table 3a (up to 2009/10) are derived from analysis produced by HEFCE. The data in Table 3b show qualifiers derived from the HESA standard qualifications obtained population (Table 3b). However, these figures can only be linked forward to study undertaken at a UK HEI (in the following academic year).
	
		
			 Table 3A: Progression to honours programme (UK-domiciled foundation degree qualifiers registered at HEIs in England) 
			  Honours programme registered at the same institution Honours programme registered at a different UK HEI or English FEC Not on honours programme in following academic year 
			 Year of foundation degree qualification awarded, progression to honours degree study in the following academic year Number of qualifiers Proportion (%) Number of qualifiers Proportion(%) Number of qualifiers Proportion (%) 
			 2003-04, Honours degree in 2004-05 1,140 47 160 7 1,110 46 
			 2004-05, Honours degree in 2005-06 2,260 50 225 5 2,080 46 
			 2005-06, Honours degree in 2006-07 3,385 47 455 6 3,385 47 
			 2006-07, Honours degree in 2007-08 4,415 49 530 6 4,050 45 
			 2007-08, Honours degree in 2008-09 5,290 46 870 8 5,275 46 
			 2008-09, Honours degree in 2009-10 6,530 45 1,095 8 6,730 47 
			 2009-10, Honours degree in 2010-11 8,775 45 1,130 6 9,590 49 
			 Notes: 1. Figures up to 2007-08 qualifiers are as published in "Foundation degree: Key statistics 2001-02 to 2009-10" 2. Figures are only available for the foundation degree qualifiers from HEIs (only). Figures for qualifiers from FECs who transfer to Honours are not available because of incomplete data qualifications (prior to 2008/09) and disproportionate cost in producing this analysis for FECs (2008/09). 3. Full person equivalent (FPE) numbers, which have been rounded to the nearest 5. 4. Progression of qualifiers from HEIs only. Source: HEFCE analysis of the HESA standard qualifiers population at English HEIs, 2003-04 to 2009-10 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3b: Progression to honours programme (UK-domiciled foundation degree qualifiers registered at HEIs in England) 
			  Honours programme registered at any UK HEI Not on honours programme at any UK HEI in following academic year 
			 Year of foundation degree qualification awarded, progression to honours degree study in the following academic year Number of qualifiers Proportion Number of qualifiers Proportion 
			 2010-11, Honours degree in 2011-12 12,480 49 13,090 51 
			 2011-12, Honours degree in 2012-13 12,660 50 12,540 50 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are not directly comparable with those provided above. 2. Full person equivalent (FPE) numbers, which have been rounded to the nearest 5. 3. Progression of qualifiers from HEIs only, into honours programmes at HEIs only. Source: HESA standard qualifications obtained population at English HEIs, linked to any honours degree study registered at a UK HEI in the year following qualification awarded.

Higher Education

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (a) how many higher national diplomas and (b) higher national certificates have been completed in each of the last 10 years.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on student qualifiers at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The number of students registered at an English higher education institution, who qualified with a Higher National Diploma (HND) and a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in the last 10 years can be found in the following table.
	It has not been possible to provide a time series data for FECs because of the disproportionate cost in providing this analysis.
	
		
			 Qualifiers from HND and HNC courses by mode of study—Registered at English higher education institutions, Academic year 2003/04 to 2012/13 
			 Level of study Mode of study 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 
			 HND Full-time 7,660 6,035 5,025 3,980 3,475 2,630 2,635 2,460 2,385 1,955 
		
	
	
		
			  Part-time 1,575 1,465 1,140 1,140 860 720 710 565 540 515 
			  Total 9,235 7,500 6,165 5,120 4,335 3,350 3,345 3,025 2,925 2,470 
			             
			 HNC Full-time 135 125 160 160 75 55 135 160 115 215 
			  Part-time 3,940 3,195 2,995 2,780 2,745 2,900 3,155 2,320 2,275 1,785 
			  Total 4,075 3,320 3,155 2,945 2,825 2,955 3,295 2,480 2,390 2,000 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are based on HESA qualifications obtained population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of five, so components may not sum to totals. 2. Students registered at English HEIs will include both students studying at English HEIs and students franchised at Further Education Colleges. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record.

Insolvency

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department's review of debt relief orders will be launched.

Jennifer Willott: We plan to launch a review of debt relief orders this year.

New Businesses: Kent

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many start-up loans have been granted to businesses in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway and (c) Kent to date.

Matthew Hancock: 12 Start-Up Loans have been granted to businesses within the Gillingham and Rainham constituency with a total drawn down value of £68,800.
	36 Start-Up Loans have been granted with a total drawn down value of £220,750 in the Medway constituency.
	265 Start-Up Loans have been granted in Kent with a total drawn down value of £1,498,105.

New Businesses: Kent

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many company formations were recorded in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (c) Kent in the last year.

Michael Fallon: The number of company formations in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (b) Kent in the financial year 2013-14 were as follows:
	
		
			 Region Number of company formations 
			 Gillingham and Rainham 616 
			 Medway 3,966 
			 Kent 15,583 
		
	
	These figures, which include all corporate bodies for the financial year, including limited liability companies, should be considered as approximations as the data is derived from postcode areas that can cross regional boundaries.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Jennifer Willott: Details of Ministers’ overseas visits are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data
	Information for January to March 2014 will be published shortly.
	Information relating to UK visits can be provided only at disproportionate cost as it is not held centrally.

Overseas Trade: Latin America

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps are being taken to promote UK trade with Latin America in connection with the 2014 Football World Cup taking place in Brazil.

Michael Fallon: During the 2014 Football World Cup, the UK Trade & Investment network in Brazil will host a series of events to promote the UK as a destination for business, investment, education and tourism. The programme includes 20 events focussed on our prosperity campaigns to promote British expertise and partnership in priority areas that includes culture, energy, infrastructure, inward investment and legacy opportunities associated to the 2012 London Olympic games.
	Events will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Manaus and Belo Horizonte, the cities hosting the England team which will be supported by Prince Harry, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid), and the Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism and Equalities, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant).
	One of the highlights of the UK programme is the GREAT Britain House in Sao Paulo. Specially developed for the agenda of events, the venue will be set up at the British Consulate in Sao Paulo to present the best the UK has to offer.

Regional Growth Fund: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Warrington North constituency received funding from the Regional Growth Fund in each year since 2011-12; and how much each such business received.

Michael Fallon: No businesses in Warrington North have received project funding directly from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) but they can apply to regional and national RGF programmes for support.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Offshore Wind Industry Council last met; and what meetings of the council have taken place since 16 May 2013.

Michael Fallon: The Offshore Wind Industry Council last met on 16 June 2014. This was the council's fourth meeting. The three previous meetings took place on 16 May 2013, 21 October 2013 and 24 February 2014.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Jennifer Willott: Ministers and officials in this Department attach the highest priority to answering written parliamentary questions (PQs) accurately and on time. All PQs tabled in the last session of Parliament received a substantive answer from the Department by the time of the 2014 Prorogation.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine Tuberculosis

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the planned further research into the use of carbon monoxide as a potential method of culling badgers will include (a) trials on living badgers, (b) trials on existing badger setts and (c) laboratory trials.

George Eustice: The planned further research involves preliminary tests to investigate the potential use of carbon monoxide in a sett environment. These preliminary tests will not involve the use of either live badgers or active setts. Whether or not we proceed with further research involving live badgers or active setts will depend upon the outcome of these preliminary tests.

Farms: Safety

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the effective implementation of regulations (a) relating to storage of slurry and (b) in general for safety in farm yards.

George Eustice: Implementing safety regulations in farm yards is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE recognises agriculture as a priority industry and has a programme for measurable and sustainable changes to the industry's health and safety performance.
	The regulation of slurry storage is a devolved matter. In England it is controlled by the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations 2010 (the SSAFO regulations), with the Environment Agency as the main regulator. From this year the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is including slurry storage in its cross-compliance inspections. Both the RPA and Environment Agency work closely with the HSE on farm safety.
	Slurry storage and management in England has been reviewed recently by a Joint Industry and Government Working Group and this included a review of the SSAFO regulations. The Group’s report was published on 21 November 2013 and is available online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/slurry-management-and-storage-joint-government-and-industry-report
	The report recognised the risks involved in managing slurry and included a recommendation about developing regular assessment of the condition of slurry stores to provide assurance that stores both prevent environmental pollution and meet health and safety requirements. The Government and industry continue to work in partnership to implement the recommendations.

Housing: Formaldehyde

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the published acceptable limits for formaldehyde in the air within a domestic dwelling.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA is not responsible for air quality policy within domestic buildings and so has made no such assessment.

Timber: Imports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government is taking to prevent illegally-harvested timber and endangered hardwoods being imported into the UK.

Dan Rogerson: In March 2013 the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations were introduced in the UK. The regulations implement the EU Timber Regulation, which aims to prevent the trade of illegally harvested timber in the EU by:
	prohibiting the placing of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the EU market for the first time;
	requiring operators who place timber products on the market for the first time to exercise “due diligence”; and
	requiring traders to keep records of their suppliers and customers in order to facilitate the traceability of timber products through the supply chain.
	The UK also provides financial and in-country support to the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process between the EU and timber producing countries under the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. Once VPAs are in operation, EU-bound timber exports will be issued with FLEGT licences which guarantee the timber's legality.
	In addition, the import of a number of endangered hardwood species into the UK is controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) licensing system. The system aims to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of endangered species and is implemented in the EU by the Wildlife Trade Regulations.

Timber: Imports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department issues on types of timber it discourages from being imported to the UK.

Dan Rogerson: The EU Timber Regulation aims to prevent the trade of illegally harvested timber in the EU by laying down obligations on operators who place timber and timber products on the market and those who subsequently trade in them. It was implemented in the UK by the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations in March 2013.
	Guidance on how UK operators and traders can comply with the EU Timber Regulation, including the list of products that are in scope of the regulation, is available at:
	www.gov.uk/eu-timber-regulation-guidance-for-business-and-industry#guidance
	The National Measurement Office, the UK enforcement authority for the EU Timber Regulation, also administers an advice and enquiry service for industry, as well as undertaking an ongoing programme of activities designed to raise awareness and promote compliance.

HEALTH

Ambulance Services

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times ambulance response times in (a) the North West and (b) each ambulance service trust in England have exceeded (i) 15, (ii) 20, (iii) 30 and (iv) 60 minutes since May 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. The following tables show that in April 2014, North West Ambulance Service responded to 95% of Category A immediately life threatening calls within 17 minutes and that 99% of calls were responded to within 31 minutes. The tables also provide response time information for each ambulance service trust in England since April 2011.
	
		
			 Table: 95th percentile of time, in minutes, from Call Connect of a Category A call to an emergency response arriving at the scene of the incident for each ambulance trust in England, April 2011-12 to April 2014-15 
			  North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
			 April 2011 12.82 14.25 12.75 17.50 13.58 15.33 
			 May 2011 12.90 15.55 12.07 18.05 13.55 15.75 
			 June 2011 13.42 13.63 12.08 19.43 14.18 15.77 
			 July 2011 13.67 12.85 12.20 19.28 13.90 16.33 
			 August 2011 13.47 12.38 12.76 20.40 14.03 15.70 
			 September 2011 14.54 14.07 12.15 20.93 14.46 16.10 
			 October 2011 14.42 14.05 13.19 21.38 14.05 15.68 
			 November 2011 13.55 13.82 12.39 20.37 14.00 16.90 
			 December 2011 15.02 15.00 13.86 21.90 14.15 18.33 
			 January 2012 13.85 12.98 12.06 19.58 13.45 17.15 
			 February 2012 15.17 15.50 13.19 22.47 15.16 18.35 
			 March 2012 15.20 15.40 12.85 19.77 14.38 16.83 
			 April 2012 14.40 15.30 12.13 19.40 14.42 16.90 
			 May 2012 15.55 16.03 12.49 20.27 14.60 17.38 
			 June 2012 16.82 15.18 12.59 19.90 15.22 18.17 
			 July 2012 16.79 14.90 13.71 21.82 15.87 16.98 
			 August 2012 16.50 15.17 14.03 20.60 16.72 17.42 
			 September 2012 16.90 16.63 14.38 21.63 16.28 19.48 
			 October 2012 17.23 16.27 13.93 21.60 15.08 18.87 
			 November 2012 17.85 16.53 13.66 22.85 15.10 18.07 
			 December 2012 20.75 18.00 16.19 26.17 16.40 20.20 
			 January 2013 18.22 16.65 14.44 22.90 15.43 19.80 
			 February 2013 16.15 17.50 14.44 21.40 16.15 20.27 
			 March 2013 16.15 17.12 14.06 23.72 17.33 20.95 
			 April 2013 16.83 17.37 13.18 20.50 15.97 20.25 
			 May 2013 16.43 16.40 13.01 19.52 15.05 19.83 
			 June 2013 15.95 16.52 13.04 18.63 14.80 20.58 
			 July 2013 17.23 18.37 14.21 20.83 16.62 21.40 
			 August 2013 16.50 17.57 13.93 20.63 16.10 19.82 
			 September 2013 16.26 19.82 13.97 20.88 16.30 21.50 
			 October 2013 16.90 18.30 14.09 19.95 16.38 21.67 
			 November 2013 16.46 20.17 14.09 20.27 16.50 21.25 
			 December 2013 19.13 19.38 15.01 21.15 17.07 22.17 
			 January 2014 18.50 17.68 13.51 19.40 16.42 20.10 
		
	
	
		
			 February 2014 19.00 17.00 14.46 19.92 17.32 22.10 
			 March 2014 20.23 17.32 14.28 18.87 16.32 23.15 
			 April 2014 19.65 17.33 16.88 14.58 15.77 22.70 
		
	
	
		
			  London Ambulance Service NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Isle of Wight NHS Trust South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
			 April 2011 11.90 16.45 5.00 16.27 16.90 14.60 
			 May 2011 12.00 16.95 6.00 15.83 17.10 13.70 
			 June 2011 12.40 17.53 6.00 16.00 18.30 14.50 
			 July 2011 11.80 17.35 18.00 15.58 17.40 14.20 
			 August 2011 11.70 16.90 18.00 15.53 18.00 13.90 
			 September 2011 12.60 17.35 11.70 15.88 18.50 14.58 
			 October 2011 12.30 18.53 17.35 15.48 18.00 14.60 
			 November 2011 12.60 17.93 17.20 14.58 17.40 14.30 
			 December 2011 12.90 20.80 17.33 16.18 17.80 15.18 
			 January 2012 11.70 18.03 15.26 15.12 19.00 13.98 
			 February 2012 12.80 19.38 16.56 17.25 18.90 15.00 
			 March 2012 13.00 18.17 16.30 16.57 18.90 14.35 
			 April 2012 13.90 17.90 16.70 15.90 18.20 13.90 
			 May 2012 14.70 18.73 16.57 16.60 18.10 13.80 
			 June 2012 14.30 17.88 17.53 18.60 19.20 14.50 
			 July 2012 13.90 20.70 18.15 17.50 19.50 14.80 
			 August 2012 12.60 18.75 18.50 17.27 19.30 14.50 
			 September 2012 14.80 17.80 18.28 18.50 19.80 14.70 
			 October 2012 14.40 19.05 17.50 16.77 19.60 14.90 
			 November 2012 15.00 18.87 17.49 16.67 19.00 15.10 
			 December 2012 16.80 21.01 18.31 18.63 20.80 15.60 
			 January 2013 13.10 18.00 18.38 18.23 19.60 15.60 
			 February 2013 13.20 18.10 17.31 17.78 18.00 n/a 
			 March 2013 13.30 18.80 18.12 19.83 19.10 n/a 
			 April 2013 14.20 17.80 17.25 18.30 17.60 n/a 
			 May 2013 13.70 16.60 17.26 17.40 17.10 n/a 
			 June 2013 14.10 17.63 17.16 18.03 17.70 n/a 
			 July 2013 14.80 20.28 17.16 18.88 18.90 n/a 
			 August 2013 14.60 19.20 18.21 18.13 18.50 n/a 
			 September 2013 15.80 17.35 18.41 17.87 18.70 n/a 
			 October 2013 16.10 18.43 18.02 16.60 17.90 n/a 
			 November 2013 15.60 18.52 19.10 17.37 17.90 n/a 
			 December 2013 15.70 18.08 17.36 19.98 18.00 n/a 
			 January 2014 13.60 18.80 16.46 16.98 17.30 n/a 
			 February 2014 13.40 19.30 16.11 18.12 18.20 n/a 
			 March 2014 13.30 19.10 17.16 17.65 18.00 n/a 
			 April 2014 15.80 17.00 17.04 16.82 18.90 n/a 
			 n/a = Not available. In February 2013 South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust acquired the neighbouring Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust Notes: 1. Category A calls are defined as those that are the result of immediately life threatening incidents. 2. It is not possible to calculate ambulance response times have exceeded 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes. The nearest data as is available is the 95th and 99th centile time to arrival of a health professional dispatched by the ambulance service for immediately threatening (category A Red 1 and Red 2 ) calls. 3. Information is not available before April 2011. Source: Ambulance Quality Indicators, NHS England 
		
	
	
		
			 Table: 99th percentile of time, in minutes, from Call Connect of a Category A call to an emergency response arriving at the scene of the incident for each ambulance trust in England, April 2011-12 to April 2014-15 
			  North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
			 April 2011 19.34 25.37 19.43 28.97 20.65 22.98 
			 May 2011 20.25 29.91 17.40 29.47 20.75 23.37 
			 June 2011 20.27 24.58 17.65 32.28 20.98 24.65 
			 July 2011 20.22 23.18 17.83 33.25 21.00 24.77 
		
	
	
		
			 August 2011 20.26 21.23 19.49 35.53 21.21 25.15 
			 September 2011 22.32 27.65 17.74 36.48 21.85 24.23 
			 October 2011 21.42 28.05 19.23 39.10 21.70 24.47 
			 November 2011 21.11 25.12 17.47 36.25 21.20 27.52 
			 December 2011 22.47 28.58 20.96 38.05 21.93 28.42 
			 January 2012 20.66 23.67 17.78 32.52 20.98 26.83 
			 February 2012 23.03 33.07 19.63 39.72 23.45 28.28 
			 March 2012 23.55 31.80 18.64 34.98 22.01 25.58 
			 April 2012 21.47 29.18 18.50 33.13 22.13 26.72 
			 May 2012 24.19 32.62 18.80 34.08 22.63 27.25 
			 June 2012 26.17 31.67 19.18 35.82 24.28 28.60 
			 July 2012 25.94 31.00 20.91 37.48 24.07 26.65 
			 August 2012 25.70 31.18 21.24 35.42 25.92 27.30 
			 September 2012 26.67 37.57 21.23 37.17 25.38 30.43 
			 October 2012 27.45 34.95 20.46 37.32 23.12 28.62 
			 November 2012 28.15 35.43 20.53 40.23 23.60 28.30 
			 December 2012 34.21 38.62 24.57 45.90 25.33 31.08 
			 January 2013 30.15 36.70 22.12 37.95 24.65 31.33 
			 February 2013 26.30 40.58 22.00 36.00 24.55 30.58 
			 March 2013 26.10 40.33 21.61 39.52 26.52 32.42 
			 April 2013 26.93 37.55 19.63 33.57 24.33 32.62 
			 May 2013 27.25 32.62 19.05 31.63 22.77 31.22 
			 June 2013 25.72 33.95 19.73 28.80 22.68 32.33 
			 July 2013 27.23 41.02 21.04 33.20 25.72 33.88 
			 August 2013 25.60 37.55 20.75 32.28 25.07 30.93 
			 September 2013 24.35 46.50 20.97 33.08 24.60 34.52 
			 October 2013 26.00 44.68 20.69 30.98 24.77 33.38 
			 November 2013 26.88 48.18 21.13 31.42 25.07 32.43 
			 December 2013 30.38 45.52 22.97 33.27 26.18 36.03 
			 January 2014 29.70 37.80 20.17 31.95 25.88 32.58 
			 February 2014 31.21 31.37 21.45 32.80 26.63 35.02 
			 March 2014 34.11 30.50 22.20 31.88 25.42 37.65 
			 April 2014 30.65 30.97 27.20 21.97 24.68 36.32 
		
	
	
		
			  London Ambulance Service NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Isle of Wight NHS Trust South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
			 April 2011 18.20 26.55 5.00 24.50 25.70 22.10 
			 May 2011 17.60 26.63 6.00 23.88 26.70 19.90 
			 June 2011 18.40 28.15 6.00 24.32 28.30 22.20 
			 July 2011 17.50 29.33 21.00 23.33 27.50 21.40 
			 August 2011 18.10 26.55 24.00 23.38 28.00 21.20 
			 September 2011 19.20 26.77 16.40 23.50 28.20 21.10 
			 October 2011 18.80 30.25 23.05 24.07 27.50 21.90 
			 November 2011 21.40 28.80 23.50 21.97 27.20 20.90 
			 December 2011 20.00 36.42 19.33 24.45 28.30 22.97 
			 January 2012 18.60 29.43 18.36 22.88 29.40 20.60 
			 February 2012 19.50 33.22 21.58 26.58 29.40 22.83 
			 March 2012 21.30 31.20 19.40 25.43 29.20 21.62 
			 April 2012 22.20 30.67 22.23 23.78 28.60 20.30 
			 May 2012 23.20 29.90 19.79 25.70 27.20 21.30 
			 June 2012 23.20 31.72 24.39 29.50 29.70 21.30 
			 July 2012 21.50 36.77 24.38 27.00 29.80 22.30 
			 August 2012 19.60 32.62 24.37 25.72 29.90 21.60 
			 September 2012 23.60 28.53 27.14 29.23 32.70 22.10 
			 October 2012 22.50 32.68 22.30 25.60 31.10 21.90 
			 November 2012 23.40 31.15 20.47 25.95 31.60 22.90 
			 December 2012 27.30 38.29 29.49 28.25 34.30 22.40 
			 January 2013 21.70 31.52 27.24 28.70 32.40 25.00 
			 February 2013 20.30 31.33 25.51 28.40 29.20 n/a 
			 March 2013 20.20 34.55 27.37 32.15 30.30 n/a 
		
	
	
		
			 April 2013 22.20 30.63 24.82 28.48 28.10 n/a 
			 May 2013 20.60 28.05 32.13 26.88 27.00 n/a 
			 June 2013 21.80 29.32 30.29 27.97 27.70 n/a 
			 July 2013 23.10 35.33 28.02 28.77 30.20 n/a 
			 August 2013 23.20 33.98 25.30 27.32 30.30 n/a 
			 September 2013 26.00 31.01 37.95 26.72 32.00 n/a 
			 October 2013 26.00 32.22 39.92 25.50 29.90 n/a 
			 November 2013 24.60 36.50 34.55 25.55 28.90 n/a 
			 December 2013 26.20 32.65 20.52 31.17 28.90 n/a 
			 January 2014 21.80 34.15 22.33 25.47 28.60 n/a 
			 February 2014 21.50 38.03 19.79 27.62 29.40 n/a 
			 March 2014 21.60 36.82 27.97 26.27 29.60 n/a 
			 April 2014 25.60 26.90 20.22 25.28 30.40 n/a 
			 n/a = Not available. In February 2013 South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust acquired the neighbouring Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Notes: 1. Category A calls are defined as those that are the result of immediately life threatening incidents. 2. It is not possible to calculate ambulance response times have exceeded 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes. The nearest data as is available is the 95th and 99th centile time to arrival of a health professional dispatched by the ambulance service for immediately threatening (category A Red 1 and Red 2 ) calls. 3. Information is not available before April 2011. Source: Ambulance Quality Indicators, NHS England

Cancer: Drugs

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answers given to the Rt hon. Member for Chelmsford of 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 768-9W, on cancer: drugs, and to the hon. Member for Wells of 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 614W, on National Institute for Health Research, if he will place in the Library the data used to calculate those answers.

Norman Lamb: Prior to April 2013, the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority and the Department collected information on spend and number of patients treated by drug.
	NHS England has had oversight of the Cancer Drugs Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on spend and patient numbers routinely on its website at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/
	National Institute for Health Research expenditure is reported in the Department's annual report and accounts.
	Copies of the information used to provide answers to the right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns) on 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 768-69W and to my hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Tessa Munt) on 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 614W, have been placed in the Library.

Cancer: Greater London

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients who were referred by GPs for tests for suspected cancers at (a) Lewisham Hospital, (b) Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich, (c) Guys and St Thomas' Hospital and (d) Kings College Hospital were not seen within six weeks of referral in the last six months.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available centrally. While information is collected and published every month on waiting times and activity for 15 key diagnostic tests, the data does not identify whether the tests were for suspected cancers or other conditions.

Community Hospitals

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what future plans he has for community hospitals in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The majority of NHS services, including services provided in community hospitals, are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Future plans for community hospitals therefore need to be developed locally rather than determined at a national level.
	NHS England expects CCGs’ commissioning decisions to be underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local health care needs and to have regard to the need to address health inequalities.

Continuing Care

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 288W, on Parkinson's Disease, over what timeframe NHS England will improve its collection of data concerning individual funding requests for treatments of progressive conditions.

Norman Lamb: NHS England has advised us that it is aiming to complete work on improving data collection for individual funding requests in the autumn.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of how many non-clinical dementia specialist professionals are currently working across the health and care sector.

Daniel Poulter: People with dementia receive care and support from many groups of professionals across the health and social care sector. By October 2013, 108,000 national health service staff had received Tier 1 training on dementia, enabling them to spot the early symptoms of dementia, know how to interact with people with dementia and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate care. The Government's refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, builds on this by setting an ambition for a further 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, with the tools and training opportunities being made available to all staff by the end of 2018.
	The size of the adult social care workforce is 1.5 million people and research in 2010 indicated that over 40% of this work force is involved in supporting people with dementia. Skills for Care estimate that over the past year over 100,000 social care workers have received some form of dementia awareness training through work force development funding from local authorities and care providers.

Drugs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the prevalence and effect of unlicensed performance enhancing drugs (a) online and (b) in shops.

Norman Lamb: There are strict legal controls governing the sale and supply of medicinal products in the United Kingdom.
	Unlicensed medicines which claim to enhance performance generally claim to enhance either sexual, cognitive or athletic performance.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) works with domain name providers to shut down websites which are illegally trading in unlicensed erectile dysfunction medicines and which refuse to come in to compliance.
	A UK registered pharmacy may have a presence on the internet; however the requirements of legislation apply equally to both UK internet pharmacies and bricks-and-mortar premises. These legal controls also apply equally to medicines for human use sold or supplied via the internet or e-mail transactions. These restrictions do not apply to countries outside UK jurisdiction where medicines may be classified and regulated differently.
	Medicines most commonly associated with enhanced athletic performance are anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. These medicines are controlled as class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
	The MHRA has serious concerns about the availability of medicines being offered via the Internet and issues regular warnings to the public concerning the inherent risks of purchasing medicines online. MHRA advice is that medicines purchased from websites, particularly websites based overseas, cannot be guaranteed to meet set standards of quality, safety and efficacy and advises patients not to purchase medicines in this way.

Gambling

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with (a) NHS England and (b) Public Health England on improving treatment for gambling addicts;
	(2)  what training is provided to staff working within alcohol and drugs treatment in identifying and treating the problem of gambling addiction;
	(3)  what steps the Department is taking to improve healthcare outcomes by improving the awareness of gambling addiction on the part of healthcare professionals; and what guidance NHS England provides to local health authorities on the commissioning of services for gambling addiction.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not hold information on what specific training is provided to alcohol and drug treatment staff. Ensuring competent staff is the responsibility of local commissioners and providers.
	Public Health England (PHE) is working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the national gambling treatment service to identify how it can strengthen training, and are promoting the work of the Royal College of General Practitioners who have developed an online gambling diagnosis and treatment training resource that is available free to all health professionals.
	PHE promotes the Royal College of General Practitioners' online training resource among all health professionals. PHE has developed guidance for local authorities on gambling and is exploring what the local needs are and where evidence allows it to intervene. However, PHE does not wish to undermine the treatment available through the national provider GamCare until evidence emerges that this is not meeting current need.
	The Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has regular discussions with PHE and NHS England on a range of health issues. PHE is also working with NHS England and the Local Government Association to explore what the current need is locally so it can get a better picture; and decide whether PHE needs to act through prevention and restrictions on gambling shops; or through changes to the current GamCare treatment network.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on the integrated sexual health tariff.

Jane Ellison: Consideration is being given to taking forward work previously developed by NHS London on a non-mandatory integrated sexual health tariff. This consideration includes whether national data collections need further development to support the tariff and pricing structures.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of sexual health services delivered by private providers.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the sexual health commissioning toolkit will be published.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England plans to publish "Making it work; a guide to whole system commissioning for sexual and reproductive health and HIV" by the end of July 2014.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish an update to A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England first published in March 2013.

Jane Ellison: The first review of progress on the Framework will be published shortly.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were working in his Department on sexual health matters in each year since 2010; and how many people have worked in (a) his Department and (b) Public Health England on sexual health matters since the formation of Public Health England.

Jane Ellison: The following table shows staff numbers working directly on sexual health matters within the Department since 2010. There are also a number of senior civil servants and other staff, such as analysts, working in the Department who input to work on sexual health and a wide range of other issues.
	
		
			  Department staff numbers sexual health Whole time equivalent (WTE) 
			 2010 (estimated) 19 17.2 
			 2011 10 10 
			 2012 9 8.7 
			 2013 6 5.7 
			 2014 6 5.7 
		
	
	The total number of Public Health England staff working on sexual health is 255.3 WTE.
	Public Health England's head count includes staff working on Health Protection, field epidemiology, microbiology services and Health and Wellbeing staff. Some staff are externally funded and are not exclusive to sexual health, working across disciplines.

Heart Diseases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the out-of-hospital survival rates are for patients who suffer a heart attack in each year since 1984 for which information is available;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of stress on heart failure;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the incidence of heart attacks among workers who work (a) 40 and (b) 60 hours a week.

Jane Ellison: Information on survival rates for patients who suffer an out of hospital heart attack or an out of hospital cardiac arrest are not collected centrally.
	The British Heart Foundation suggests that between 2-12% of people treated by the emergency services after suffering an out of hospital cardiac arrest survive to be discharged from hospital.
	The Department has made no assessment of the effect of stress on heart failure, nor has it made any estimate of heart attacks among workers who work 40 or 60 hours per week.
	However, researchers analysing data from the Whitehall II study observed that people who believed stress was significantly affecting their health had double the risk of suffering from coronary heart disease, compared to people who did not believe stress was having an impact.

Heart Diseases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of using mobile telephone apps to use GPS to locate trained resuscitators and atrial fibrillation equipment to bring a rapid response to those who have suffered a heart attack.

Jane Ellison: The development of mobile device based Apps are being considered by NHS England across health and care settings and are still in development and launched the Health Apps Library in March 2013.
	NHS England is taking a leading role on apps in a number of areas:
	Health Apps Library: In recognition of needing to support patients and the public in knowing which apps they can trust and that are safe. Only apps that have successfully completed a clinical safety review process are listed.
	Overall United Kingdom Apps Review Framework: In recognising the need to help apps developers understand what review and regulation they need to go through, NHS England, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency are jointly working together to create an overall review framework for health apps.
	Integrated apps: The future direction of apps is to move from lots of individual apps for specific purposes that are not linked to “integrated apps” that brings different pieces of information together.
	Sudden and unexpected cardiac arrest remains a major public health concern in all countries and can affect all ages.
	Defibrillators that can save many lives within minutes of the event are widely available, but rapid location of these and also trained community responders is an urgent and unmet need. Apps have been developed and several are in use but they will not achieve their full potential until integrated into a national scheme which NHS England is considering.

Heart Diseases: Children

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable for the new congenital heart disease review is.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is currently undertaking the congenital health disease review. It has conducted extensive pre-consultation engagement with a wide range of stakeholders who have an interest in congenital heart disease.
	NHS England has made considerable progress in responding to their concerns and, for the first time, it has developed a comprehensive set of commissioning standards that will cover the whole patient pathway from infancy to adult services and right through to palliative care and bereavement.
	Following the engagement process, we understand that NHS England will consult on these draft service standards later this year, but not in July as previously anticipated.
	Moving forward, NHS England is committed to a review that is robust, transparent, inclusive, and which will deliver high quality and sustainable services for all patients.
	All information relating to the review can be found on NHS England's website and through a fortnightly blog.

Heart Diseases: Children

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children's heart surgery units receive equal and sufficient levels of scrutiny across the country.

Jane Ellison: Clinical audit is an important tool for driving up standards in the delivery of treatment and care. The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research regularly provides clinical audit data to NHS England and the regulators which they use to monitor the outcomes at all children's cardiac centres. As part of the Congenital Heart Disease review, NHS England is currently reviewing the type of information that it analyses to monitor the outcomes of these services.

Influenza

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of reports that scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created a life-threatening virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain; whether he has made an assessment of the potential threat to the UK population arising from that experiment; and whether the Government has made any representations to the US Administration on this matter;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of reports that scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created a virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain; whether he has made an assessment of the potential threat to the UK population arising from that experiment; and whether the Government has made any representation to the US Administration on this matter.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) was advised that the work undertaken at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been reviewed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, in keeping with the institute's implementation of the United States Government Policy for Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern.
	As part of this, PHE understand that the research was carried out in secure facilities with high levels of containment. A key finding of the research was that people vaccinated with the current seasonal influenza vaccine (which protects against 2009 H1N1 influenza, a related virus) had some evidence of protection against the novel virus that had been created. In addition, the team showed that the novel transmissible virus is expected to be sensitive to the antiviral medication oseltamivir. Effective counter measures to this novel virus are therefore available.
	This research provides information on the mechanisms responsible for adaptation of avian influenza viruses to mammals. Knowing what genes are associated with a potentially severe pandemic strain can help predict the likelihood of a strain emerging and help devise appropriate counter measures.

Leeds General Infirmary

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to release the second stage of the review into the closure of surgery at Leeds Children's Heart Unit; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: This is a matter for NHS England.
	The second stage report into the suspension of surgery at Leeds Children’s Heart Unit was published on 13 March 2014. The third and concluding report is in the final stages of preparation and is expected to be published by the end of July 2014. NHS England will ensure that key stakeholders are made aware of the publication date once it has been agreed.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 10 June 2014, Official Report, column 896W, on hospitals, what progress his Department has made at Medway NHS Trust since it was placed in special measures in 2013.

Jane Ellison: Medway was recently re-inspected by the Chief Inspector, who will be publishing the results of the re-inspection shortly alongside his recommendation as to whether the foundation trust has made sufficient improvement to exit the regime.
	The trust is making good progress in the majority of areas reviewed in 2013 by the Keogh team. However, since the Keogh review the trust has received warning notices from the Care Quality Commission in relation to its maternity services (October 2013) and emergency services (March 2014) indicating continuing quality concerns in other areas.
	Since the Keogh review the trust has created 29 additional medical posts and 115 additional nurse and nurse support staff posts. It has struggled to recruit sufficient numbers to these posts with the result that it remains highly reliant on locum and agency staff.

Mental Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what comparative assessment he has made of the rates of mental ill health caused by (a) working long hours and (b) being unemployed;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of work-based stress on suicide levels.

Norman Lamb: Numerous studies, including the Marmot Review into health inequalities in England (published in 2010) draw attention to the impacts of unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, on mental health.
	Research also demonstrates that work related stress and mental health problems often go together. Work related stress may trigger an existing mental health problem that the person may otherwise have successfully managed.
	However, common mental health problems and stress can exist independently. For example, people can have work related stress leading to physical symptoms such as high blood pressure, without experiencing anxiety and depression. They can also have anxiety and depression that is unrelated to stress.
	Gainful employment promotes mental well-being. Unfortunately, the workplace can also be the source of nonproductive stress leading to physical and mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts and behaviours and suicide.
	A number of studies demonstrate an association between the areas of England worst affected during the recent financial crisis and increased suicide rates. Between 2008 and 2010, there were approximately 800 more suicides among men and 155 more among women than would have been expected based on historical trends. This was supported by a recent review of the international impact of the global economic crisis. A rise in poor health status associated with the recession has also been found not only for the unemployed, but also among people who remain employed.
	People come into contact with the welfare system at a time when they may be vulnerable because of unemployment and its associated consequences. The Department for Work and Pensions provides guidance and training for staff to help them identify and support people who are vulnerable, including those who may be at risk of suicide or self-harm.

NHS: Re-employment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancy payments have been recovered from NHS staff who have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by an NHS organisation in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information relating to the recovery of payments from national health service staff made redundant and subsequently re-employed by an NHS organisation.
	This information will be held locally by NHS organisations.
	The NHS is set to save £5.5 billion this Parliament and £1.5 billion each year thereafter, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and freeing up extra resources for patient care.

Obesity: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to reduce child obesity in Barnsley.

Jane Ellison: In April 2013, local responsibility for the prevention and management of obesity transferred from primary care trusts to local authorities.
	Barnsley's health and wellbeing board, run by Barnsley council, is drafting a Health and Wellbeing strategy for the borough to support children and young people in avoiding the potential health problems related to child obesity, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases later in life.
	Our national approach to tackling obesity includes engaging with a wide range of partners including businesses, health professionals and individuals. We have set national ambition for a downward trend in excess weight in children and have a well-developed and wide-ranging programme of actions. Obesity rates in children are levelling off.
	Some of the key initiatives are Change4Life, Change4Life Sports Clubs, the National Child Measurement Programme and School Sports Funding.
	This is in addition to measures being taken by other Government Departments such as the School Food Plan, published by the Department for Education last year.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Daniel Poulter: Details of United Kingdom-based visits undertaken by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), and his ministerial team since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was have been placed in the Library.
	The purpose of all these visits was to meet staff and patients and learn more about the service except where denoted with an asterisk.
	Details of Ministers' visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

Public Health England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many financial bonuses of what amount have been paid to employees of Public Health England since April 2013; and on what criteria such bonuses were awarded.

Jane Ellison: Financial bonuses have been paid to 20 employees of Public Health England since its establishment on 1 April 2013, all of which relate to their performance in predecessor organisations in the 2012-13 reporting year. The criteria used for the performance assessment and subsequent payments for which they were eligible were those of their former employer.
	Of these, 18 were to former employees of the Department of Health, all of which were non-consolidated. The number of payments and amounts were as follows:
	
		
			 Number of payments £ 
			 1 210 
			 1 250 
			 1 380 
			 1 480 
			 1 630 
		
	
	
		
			 1 750 
			 1 825 
			 4 900 
			 1 1,000 
			 4 1,200 
			 1 10,000 
			 1 12,500 
		
	
	The remaining two were to former employees of the Health Protection Agency, which were also non-consolidated, and amounted to £10,000 each.

Vaccination

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what restrictions apply to the discretion of clinical commissioning groups to commission immunisation services.

Jane Ellison: Policy on what national immunisation programmes should be implemented and how best to implement them is the responsibility of the Department working with Public Health England and NHS England.
	Responsibility and funding for national immunisation programmes rests with NHS England. Clinical commissioning groups are free to consider the need and resourcing for local immunisation activity with their partners in local authorities, who are responsible for taking appropriate steps to improve local public health.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether precursors of genocide exist in Burma for the Rohingya; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: It is the policy of the British Government that any judgment on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes. We consistently lobby the Burmese Government for further action to address the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State, to improve security, to deliver accountability and to find a sustainable solution on citizenship. I raised our concerns with the Burmese Government during my visit in January, summoned the Burmese ambassador to press for humanitarian access in April, and discussed the situation with Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw again on 13 June.

Burma

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the issue of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese Army was raised with the Burmese colonel who received training in the UK from 10 March to April 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: The Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context course, delivered in the UK by the Defence Academy, was attended by participants from over 20 countries; one of these was a colonel from the Burmese military. The course is designed for countries making the difficult transition to democracy in a variety of contexts. Specific issues of concern relating to individual countries are therefore not raised during the course.
	I, however, raised the issue of rape and sexual violence with the Burmese Army's Commander-in-Chief and northern Commander during my visit to Burma in January.
	I welcome Burma’s endorsement of the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 5 June; we stand ready to provide any support necessary to assist implementation of the declaration.

China

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in China.

Hugo Swire: We do have concerns about restrictions to civil and political freedoms in China, particularly around ethnic minority rights; the death penalty; and freedom of expression, association and assembly.
	The climate for human rights defenders and civil society is very difficult, and security in areas with ethnic minorities remains tight.
	Ministers regularly raise human rights issues with Chinese counterparts, and we highlight our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

Christianity

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what direct steps the Government has taken to ensure the safety of Christians in countries where they are being persecuted for their faith.

David Lidington: Freedom of religion or belief is a priority for this Government internationally. On 15 November 2014, the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi gave a speech in Washington stressing the need for an international response to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The full text of her speech is available on our website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/an-international-response-to-a-global-crisis
	We are concerned about the rising tide of persecution of individuals on the basis of their religion and belief. We regularly raise individual cases and discriminatory legislation with other governments and we support overseas programmes designed to overcome prejudice, discrimination and sectarianism. We also work in multilateral fora to ensure that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief is afforded the international legal protection that it deserves. Furthermore the Senior Minister of State has convened meetings of international leaders to generate practical steps to promote freedom of religion or belief and to fight religious intolerance within our societies.

Iran

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of (a) Farshid Fathi, (b) Behnam Irani, (c) Silas Rabbani, (d) Amin Khaki, (e) Saeed Abedini and (f) other pastors and deacons imprisoned in Iran being beaten in prison.

Hugh Robertson: We remain deeply concerned by the detention and ill treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian Government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith.

Israel

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the UK has made to Israel following the Israeli parliament's consideration of legislation to allow force-feeding of Palestinian administrative detainees on hunger strike.

Hugh Robertson: Officials from the British embassy in Tel Aviv met with an official from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office on 17 June; they expressed our concern over the bill.

Italy

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent correspondence his Department has received from UK citizens living in Italy on delays in passport renewal; whether all such letters were acknowledged; and for what reasons any such letter has not yet been acknowledged.

David Lidington: Passport renewal is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Passport Office under the responsibility of Home Office Ministers. Any related correspondence received in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is therefore transferred to that Office for response.

Lithuania

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Lithuanian Government to secure restitution for British citizens who had assets seized by the Nazis as soon as possible.

David Lidington: The Government attaches great importance to supporting the families tragically affected by the Holocaust—including on the issue of property restitution. I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, column 689W.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on redundancy payments for special advisers since May 2010.

Hugh Robertson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), to today's parliamentary question 200473.

Palestinians

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart in favour of the removal of demolition orders from all structures at the Tent of Nations farm outside Nahalin village on the West Bank.

Hugh Robertson: We have no plans, at the moment, to raise this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. However, we repeatedly make clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concerns about continued demolitions of Palestinian property and the need to abide by their other obligations under international law. Officials from the British embassy in Tel Aviv raised the broad issue of demolitions on 28 May with Prime Minister Netanyahu's office.

Tibet

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts and other senior figures in the United Nations and the EU on human rights abuses in Tibet.

Hugo Swire: We remain concerned about the situation in Tibet. Ministers regularly raise their concerns with Chinese counterparts, and we highlight our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.
	We regularly work with international partners on these issues, including the EU and the UN Human Rights Council. We believe that long term stability in Tibet will be best achieved through respect for the universal human rights and genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the Chinese constitution.

JUSTICE

Aarhus Convention

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many Aarhus claims in England and Wales have been successful for the claimant since 1 April 2013;
	(2)  how many Aarhus claims in England and Wales have been granted permission to proceed since 1 April 2013;
	(3)  in how many applications for Judicial Review in England and Wales the defendant has successfully challenged the claim as an Aarhus claim since 1 April 2013;
	(4)  how many applications for judicial review in England and Wales made since 1 April 2013 have been identified on Claim Form N461 as Aarhus Convention claims.

Shailesh Vara: The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. The data is not held centrally and providing information at the level of detail sought would require a review of many manual files.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Jeremy Wright: The Department is not able to provide this information without incurring disproportionate cost because this would require extensive searches of all current and former Ministers’ diaries over this period and further research to confirm the purpose of each visit.
	I can confirm that Ministers from this Department go on regular visits which are relevant to their portfolios, including to courts and tribunals, prisons, probation services and a wide range of organisations connected to the Department’s work.

Prisoner Escapes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners serving sentences in open conditions have previously absconded for their current or previous establishments (a) once, (b) twice, (c) three times and (d) four or more times.

Jeremy Wright: Keeping the public safe is our priority. Absconds and escapes have reached record lows under this Government but each incident is taken seriously. Immediate changes have already been ordered to tighten up the system as a matter of urgency. Prisoners will no longer be transferred to open conditions or allowed out on temporary release if they have previously absconded, escaped, or attempted to do either.
	My officials are currently working to provide the information requested. I will write to you in due course.

Prisoners

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours per week were spent in cells by prisoners by (a) per week day and (b) per weekend day by security category of prisoner, in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what average time was left to be served on a sentence for prisoners serving (a) determinate, (b) indeterminate, (c) life and (d) all sentences moved from closed to open conditions within the prison estate in each year since 2010.

Jeremy Wright: We do not centrally hold data on the number of prisoners transferred from closed to open prisons for the time period requested—or the type of sentence which they were serving. Consequently, the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual trawl through the records of every prisoner who has formed part of the prison population since 2010 to identify if they had/have ever been held in open conditions during the time period requested.
	Determinate sentence prisoners should not generally be moved to open prison if they have more than two years to serve to their earliest release date, unless assessment of a prisoner’s individual risks and needs support earlier categorisation to open conditions. Such cases must have the reasons for their categorisation fully documented and confirmed in writing by the Governing Governor.
	Indeterminate sentence prisoners do not have fixed release dates, so even if the data on transfers was readily available, it would not be possible to identify a length of time left to be served in these cases.
	Depending on the length of tariff and the risk they pose, indeterminate sentenced prisoners (ISPs—both those serving life and IPP sentences) move through their sentence via a series of progressive transfers into lower security establishments in the closed estate and then usually into open conditions. ISPs may be considered for transfer to open conditions up to three years before the expiry of their minimum tariff. The decision to transfer ISPs to open conditions is a categorisation decision which is a matter for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may take this decision after seeking advice from the Parole Board—or without seeking advice from the Board, where the prisoners demonstrate exceptional progress.
	Placing a prisoner in open conditions serves two main purposes. Firstly, it facilitates the eventual resettlement of prisoners into the community, in conditions more similar to those that they will face in the community than closed conditions can provide. Secondly, it allows for risk to be assessed in order to inform release decisions and, should the prisoner secure release, to inform risk management plans for ongoing supervision in the community. Thus, for many prisoners who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody, this can assist in their successful reintegration in the community and help protect the public. To release these prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate could lead to higher levels of post-release reoffending.
	Keeping the public safe is our priority. That is why this Government has taken action on both releases on temporary licence (ROTL) and absconds from prison. We commissioned a fundamental review of ROTL policy and practice last year and, in March, announced a package of measures to ensure that the public was properly protected. We have brought forward some of those measures so that they begin to take effect immediately, particularly with more serious offenders where the review concluded that an enhanced risk assessment approach should be taken.
	The public have understandable concerns about the failure of some prisoners to return from temporary release from open prison. Keeping the public safe is our priority and we will not allow the actions of a small minority of offenders to undermine public confidence in the prison system. The number of temporary release failures remains very low—less than one failure in every 1,000 releases and about five in every 100,000 releases involving alleged offending—but we take each and every incident seriously. The Government has already ordered immediate changes to tighten up the system as a matter of urgency. With immediate effect, prisoners will no longer be transferred to open conditions if they have previously absconded from open prisons, or if they have failed to return or reoffended while released on temporary licence.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many assaults on prison officers were committed by inmates in UK prisons in the last five years; and how many working days were lost as a result of such assaults.

Jeremy Wright: NOMS takes the issue of assaults very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working closely with the police and CPS to develop a new joint protocol to report crimes in prison—this includes pushing for prosecutions when prison staff are attacked.
	The number of prisoner on officer assaults in England and Wales prisons for each year over the last five years is presented in Table 3.8 of the assaults tables in each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics
	The Ministry of Justice is not responsible for prisons in other Administrations of the United Kingdom.
	Figures for the number of working days lost due to sickness arising from assaults on officers are shown in table 1. The data in this table are based on approved claims for sick leave excusal, whereby a period of absence that can be attributed to an assault at work does not count against the officer’s allowance of sick pay. It is not specifically recorded that the assaults were initiated by prisoners. Table 1 shows that staff sickness fluctuates from year to year.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of working days lost by officers granted sick leave excusal for reasons of assault, 2005-06 to 2013-14 
			  Working days lost with sick leave excusal granted Percentage of all sick 
			 2013-14 9,020 2.2 
			 2012-13 8,270 1.9 
			 2011-12 10,280 2.2 
			 2010-11 10,330 2.1 
			 2009-10 3,950 0.7 
			 2008-09 9,250 1.6 
			 2007-08 12,360 2.1 
		
	
	
		
			 2006-07 7,440 1.3 
			 2005-06 11,890 2.0

Prisons: Employment

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners in each prison in England and Wales are willing and able to work but cannot do so as a result of a lack of available vacancies in their prison establishment.

Jeremy Wright: This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	We want more prisoners to undertake work in prisons, within the discipline of regular working hours, which will also help them develop the skills they need to gain employment, reform, and turn away from crime. To truly expand real work in prison, we need to maximise the involvement of businesses and the rest of Government, making it profitable for companies and to deliver value to the taxpayer.
	The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1½ million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.
	In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.
	Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf
	Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Employment

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average number was of hours per week spent working by prisoners in each prison in England and Wales in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14.

Jeremy Wright: The establishment-level breakdown requested is not available centrally for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully whilst they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.
	The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.
	In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.
	Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS annual report management information addendum:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf
	Figures for 2013-14, which will include an establishment-level breakdown for public sector prisons, will be published in July.
	Our reforms to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.
	Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Employment

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners are classed as unemployed in each prison in England and Wales.

Jeremy Wright: This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully while they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.
	The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1½ million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.
	In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning. Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf
	Figures for 2013-14, which will include an establishment-level breakdown for public sector prisons, will be published in July.
	Our reforms to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.
	Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, column 494W, on prisons: mobile telephones, when data on mobile telephones seized in prisons in 2013 will be made available.

Jeremy Wright: The number of mobile phone and SIM card seizures for the first six months of 2013 was 3,398. The data for the whole of 2013 will be available by the end of August 2014, broken down by prison establishment.
	One seizure may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.
	All figures provided have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice received 3,087 questions tabled in the Commons during the 2013-14 Session. Of these, 26 parliamentary questions did not receive a substantive answer by the end of the last Session. In these cases the relevant Minister committed to write providing a substantive answer and the written responses. We have now answered 16 of the outstanding questions and are in the process of responding to the remaining 10. The following table sets out the month in which each of the questions was tabled.
	
		
			  Number 
			 February 2014 4 
			 March 2014 8 
			 April 2014 6 
			 May 2014 8 
		
	
	My the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), and his ministerial team take their obligations to Parliament seriously and want to ensure that MPs receive answers of a high standard which set out the relevant context. More complex questions can involve compiling and analysing large volumes of material. We respond to such questions as promptly as we can.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Rape

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Attorney-General what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of rape convictions.

Oliver Heald: Increasing the number of rape convictions continues to be a priority in the criminal justice system. On 6 June 2014, a Rape Action Plan was jointly published by the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which sets out a series of actions designed to improve the criminal justice response in rape cases. This followed a Rape National Scrutiny Panel led by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the National Policing lead for rape, which considered the investigation and prosecution of rape cases including their referral from the police to the CPS. The Action plan can be found on the CPS website at:
	http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/equality/vaw/rape_action_plan.pdf

WORK AND PENSIONS

Chief Scientific Advisers

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many meetings he has had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

Esther McVey: As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Children: Maintenance

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to publicise information on changes to child maintenance.

Steve Webb: Since the Child Maintenance Service launched in December 2012 we have been talking to clients (via caseworkers and through our Child Maintenance Options service) about the planned introduction of charging, and letters to Child Maintenance Service clients have made reference to the charges.
	More widely we have engaged with stakeholders, partners, MP caseworkers and intermediaries to share information about the reforms to the child maintenance system.
	Ahead of existing Child Support Agency cases closing, a regional media trial is currently running in the Manchester area. The media activity includes digital, radio and press advertising to let parents know that the Child Support Agency is changing and to reassure them that they do not need to take any action until they receive a letter. We will evaluate the results of this media activity before confirming plans to run this campaign nationally later this year.

Employment and Support Allowance

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will create an independent panel to review and assess the effectiveness of the employment and support allowance and work capability assessment tests.

Michael Penning: The Department has already conducted four independent reviews of the WCA, the most recent of which was completed on 12 December 2013 and is published online at the following address:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-capability-assessment-independent-review-year-4
	A fifth and final independent review is currently under way and is due to be completed by the end of the year.
	In addition to these independent reviews the Department has conducted an evidence based review of the WCA in which the descriptors for mental health and fluctuating conditions were examined by an independent panel against an alternative assessment designed in conjunction with representative groups and charities. On 12 December 2013 the Department published the results of this online at the following address:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-capability-assessment-evidence-based-review

Employment Schemes: Disclosure of Information

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps his Department taks to investigate allegations from a whistleblower of impropriety in a Work Choice contract;
	(2)  what steps his Department takes to investigate whistleblowers' allegations of impropriety relating to employment support contracts.

Esther McVey: The Department treats any allegation of fraud by contractors very seriously, regardless of where these emanate from. Any fraud is completely unacceptable. Where we identify, or are notified of, allegations of contractor fraud, these cases are investigated thoroughly by the Department’s professionally trained and experienced investigators to a standard required to support reference to the police whenever evidence of criminal offences is discovered.
	All contracted employment providers are required to have whistleblowing procedures that support their employees in reporting suspected wrongdoing at work and ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’. If they consider that they cannot raise suspicions of abuse of Government funds with their employer, they should contact the Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO). This route is used to escalate whistleblower concerns and DWP Internal Investigations work with the NAO to investigate these matters and take appropriate action where issues are identified. This is an important channel in ensuring that employees can raise concerns and that they can be protected legally when doing so.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many youth contract wage incentives he estimates will be taken up by April 2015.

Esther McVey: The latest information that we hold on Youth Contract Wage Incentives was published in February 2014 and can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283873/youth-contract-feb14.pdf
	Wage incentives are a demand-led scheme, and we have not forecast the number of wage incentives we expect to be taken up by April 2015.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that jobseekers whose jobseeker's allowance claim is cancelled are informed with greater clarity that their housing benefit will also be cancelled as a result.

Esther McVey: When a jobseeker's allowance claim is terminated, the claimant is issued with an end of award notice. This notification informs the claimant that they need to contact their local authority if they have a claim to housing benefit and/or council tax benefit.
	Over and above this, Jobcentre Plus guidance is being strengthened to stress the importance of advising claimants to contact their local authority if they have a claim to housing benefit and/or council tax benefit and their claim is terminated, sanctioned or disallowed.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on whether jobseekers whose jobseeker's allowance claim is cancelled because they experience three periods of illness in one year must be informed of this by jobcentre staff.

Esther McVey: Legislation prescribes the circumstances where a person can remain on jobseeker's allowance where they suffer a period of sickness. Where someone declares a period of sickness that falls outside these circumstances, they are informed of their options, eg claiming employment support allowance and how to re-claim jobseeker's allowance as and when appropriate. Once a claim to JSA is terminated, the claimant receives a formal notification to this effect.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will provide additional support to jobseekers whose jobseeker's allowance is sanctioned because they experience a series of short illnesses.

Esther McVey: Jobseeker's allowance (JSA) is a benefit for people that are available for, and actively seeking, employment. It allows for two separate periods of sickness of up to 14 days within a 12 month period. Work coaches take individual circumstances, including health, into account when agreeing a claimant commitment. Claimants that are unable to meet their conditionality because of sickness can be signposted to employment and support allowance (ESA).

Jobseeker's Allowance

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he gives to jobcentre staff on informing jobseekers of cancellation of their jobseeker's allowance claim.

Esther McVey: All jobcentre staff have access to comprehensive and clear procedures, guidance and learning which equips them to advise customers appropriately.
	Additionally, everyone claiming jobseeker's allowance is provided with information about the conditions under which it is paid and the potential consequences of not complying. Where a doubt is identified and the case is to be referred to a decision maker, this is explained to the claimant and information provided about what will happen next.
	If a sanction or disallowance is applied or the jobseeker's allowance claim is cancelled, the claimant is notified of this in writing.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of jobseekers excluded from the claimant count because their benefit has been sanctioned; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: No-one is excluded from the claimant count simply due to their benefit being sanctioned.

Jobseeker's Allowance: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) York Central constituency and (b) City of York local authority area were claiming jobseeker's allowance per Jobcentre Plus vacancy in each year since May 2007.

Esther McVey: Headline figures on the number of unfilled vacancies at a point in time are published by the Office for National Statistics, based on a regular survey of employers. The sample size of the survey is, however, too small to allow information to be published below national level.
	Jobcentre vacancies are just a part of total recruitment, missing jobs available in the wider labour market beyond the local constituency or authority, and those coming up through other recruitment channels or filled by direct approaches to employers or word of mouth. A snapshot of unfilled vacancies also misses the regular turnover of new vacancies that come up as existing opportunities are filled. Information on the number of unfilled vacancies held locally by Jobcentre Plus was collected until 2012 and the available information is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Jobseeker's allowance caseload and unfilled Jobcentre Plus vacancies 
			  York Central York local authority 
			 May in each year JSA claimants Live unfilled vacancies JSA claimants Live unfilled vacancies 
			 2007 1,338 970 1,821 1,583 
			 2008 1,345 931 1,808 1,503 
			 2009 2,571 935 3,739 1,341 
			 2010 2,665 648 3,737 1,094 
			 2011 2,432 663 3,320 1,094 
			 2012 2,497 780 3,421 1,377 
		
	
	The latest claimant count figures show the number of JSA claimants in York Central and York local authority has fallen to 1,345 and 1,790 respectively in May 2014.
	Universal Jobmatch has replaced the previous Jobcentre Plus system of taking vacancies. Equivalent statistical information on vacancies available through the new service is not currently available. The ONS data shows that nationally there are well over 600,000 vacancies available at any one time. Vacancies available locally through Universal Jobmatch can be accessed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/jobsearch
	Inputting a postcode, town or place in the appropriate box returns vacancies within a 20 mile radius. This can be further refined as necessary.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Esther McVey: Details of Ministers' visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

Personal Independence Payment: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency who have submitted a claim for personal independence payment have been waiting more than (a) six months and (b) three months for a medical assessment.

Michael Penning: The information you have requested is not currently available.

Social Security Benefits: Greater Manchester

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions for (a) not actively seeking employment, (b) refusal of employment, (c) failure to attend a mandatory interview, (d) failure to participate in work-related activity, (e) non-compliance with a Jobseeker's Direction were received by claimants in Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency between (i) April 2011 and March 2012 and (ii) April 2013 and March 2014.

Esther McVey: The available information as requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of adverse benefit sanctions applied in Wythenshawe and Sale East parliamentary constituency by referral reason 
			 Reason for referral April 2011 to March 2012 April 2013 to December 2013 
			 Not actively seeking employment 230 220 
			 Refusal of employment * * 
			 Failure to attend a mandatory interview 870 320 
			 Failure to participate in Work-related activity 10 70 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-compliance with a Jobseeker’s Direction 20 20 
			 Notes: 1. ‘*’denotes nil or negligible. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Data provided is up to December 2013 which is the latest available. 3. The number of benefit sanctions applied is the number of sanction or disallowance referrals where the decision was found against the claimant for those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance (JSA), employment and support allowance (ESA) in the work related activity group, or income support (Lone Parents). 4. The following reasons for referral apply to JSA only: Not actively seeking employment; refusal of employment; non-compliance with a jobseeker’s direction. 5. Failure to attend a mandatory interview includes failure to attend a mandatory interview for ESA claimants, failure to attend/participate in a work focused interview for ISLP claimants and failure to attend an adviser interview for JSA claimants. 6. Failure to participate on work-related activity applies to ESA claimants in the work related activity group only. 7. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA from 22 October 2012 and for ESA from 3 December 2012. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the new regime is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules 8. New regulations for ISLP claimants came into force on 28 April 2014. An explanation of the full regulations is provided and can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1097/contents/made 9. This information for JSA and ESA sanctions is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Sources: 1. (JSA and ESA): DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database 2. (IS): Income Support Computer System

Unemployment Benefits: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people for each jobcentre plus vacancy were claiming out-of-work benefits in Warrington North constituency in each year since 2007.

Esther McVey: Headline figures on the number of unfilled vacancies at a point in time are published by the Office for National Statistics, based on a regular survey of employers. The sample size of the survey is, however, too small to allow information to be published below national level.
	Jobcentre vacancies are just a part of total recruitment, missing jobs available in the wider labour market beyond the local constituency and those coming up through other recruitment channels or filled by direct approaches to employers or word of mouth. A snapshot of unfilled vacancies also misses the regular turnover of new vacancies that come up as existing opportunities are filled. Information on the number of unfilled Jobcentre Plus vacancies was collected until 2012 and the available information is shown in the table. Consistent information on benefits other than jobseeker's allowance (JSA) is not available for parliamentary constituencies over this period.
	
		
			 Jobseeker's allowance caseload and unfilled Jobcentre Plus vacancies 
			  Warrington North 
			 November in each year Jobseeker’s allowance claimants Live unfilled vacancies 
			 2007 1,146 1,750 
			 2008 1,789 692 
			 2009 2,618 539 
			 2010 2,244 955 
			 2011 2,523 1,005 
			 2012 2,529 1,495 
		
	
	The latest claimant count figures show the number of JSA claimants in Warrington North has fallen to 1,474 in May 2014.
	Universal Jobmatch has replaced the previous Jobcentre Plus system of taking vacancies. Equivalent statistical information on vacancies available through the new service is not currently available. The ONS data shows that nationally there are well over 600,000 vacancies available at any one time. Vacancies available locally through Universal Jobmatch can be accessed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/jobsearch
	Inputting a postcode, town or place in the appropriate box returns vacancies within a 20 mile radius. This can be further refined as necessary.

Work Programme: Older Workers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve support for people over 50 provided through the Work Programme.

Esther McVey: The Work Programme is continuing to offer tailored support to those people over 50 at risk of becoming long-term unemployed and providers are continuing to design support based on their individual need.
	Last year, the Government launched the Work Programme ‘Building Best Practice Group’, which is considering the best ways of addressing the particular needs of claimants, including older workers. The group will report back to Ministers later in 2014.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Business

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether she plans to attend the International Festival for Business in Liverpool.

Theresa Villiers: As the hon. Member will know, the Prime Minister opened the International Festival for Business recently. The events will be a great opportunity to showcase the very best of Britain and encourage foreign investors to set up or expand in the UK, including Northern Ireland.
	While I have no plans to visit at present, I fully intend to discuss the Festival when I meet Dominic Jermey, the incoming CEO of UKTI, shortly and the Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment to see how Northern Ireland businesses can best take advantage of the opportunities that it offers.

Film

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps her Department has taken to ensure further opportunities for Northern Ireland's film industry are secured.

Theresa Villiers: The hon. Member will appreciate that this is a devolved matter. However I take every opportunity to promote the Northern Ireland film industry which has been significantly boosted by the high end television tax credit introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne).
	I have met the senior team at Home Box Office on two occasions. Last month I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), to coincide with the publication of the UK Creative Industries International Strategy in China, in order to promote some 250 media production companies based in Northern Ireland that are already delivering on a global stage and offering world-class talent across the sector.

Foreign Investment in UK

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when she last met the chief executive of UK Trade & Investment to discuss that organisation's role in attracting inward investment to Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: It has not been possible to meet the outgoing chief executive of UKTI. I look forward to meeting Dominic Jermey in the coming weeks to discuss how UKTI can promote Northern Ireland trade and investment working in tandem with InvestNI.

Northern Ireland Executive Department for Social Development

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what topics were discussed at her meeting with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development on 8 May 2014.

Theresa Villiers: I discussed a range of topics with Nelson McCausland MLA at our meeting on 8 May 2014.

Northern Ireland Executive Department for Social Development

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where and for what purpose she held her meeting with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development on 8 May 2014; and what the duration was of that meeting.

Theresa Villiers: I met Nelson McCausland MLA in Stormont House to discuss a range of matters. The meeting lasted 45 minutes.

Official Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what visits each of the Ministers in her Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Theresa Villiers: Details of Ministers' visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=northern-ireland-office

Staff

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) permanent and (b) non-permanent staff were employed in her Department on 1 June 2014.

Theresa Villiers: As of 1 June 2014, my Department employed 155 permanent members of staff made up of Home civil servants and Northern Ireland civil servants staff seconded to the Northern Ireland Office. Three part-time members of staff are engaged on an annual contract.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Clerk of the House

Simon Burns: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, 
	(1)  whether the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive will be subject to security vetting if he or she is appointed from outside the House service or Civil Service; and whether he or she will be subject to a confirmation hearing before a select committee;
	(2)  whether a tender was issued for the use of head-hunters to find candidates for the post of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive;
	(3)  what assessment will be made, prior to the appointment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, of each candidate's knowledge of and expertise on procedural and constitutional issues;
	(4)  who determined the terms of the advertisement seeking applications for the post of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive;
	(5)  what the composition will be of the selection committee for the appointment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and what the composition was of the equivalent committee when the present postholder was appointed.

John Thurso: Three organisations specialising in executive search services were invited to tender to provide support for the recruitment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive. Saxton Bampfylde was selected through this process.
	The selection panel comprises Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP, Angela Eagle MP, John Thurso MP, Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP and Dame Julie Mellor (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman). No confirmation hearing is envisaged. The composition of the panel for the recruitment of the present postholder was Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Sir George Young MP, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, John Thurso MP, Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, Rt Hon Lindsay Hoyle MP and Sheila Drew Smith.
	Knowledge of procedural and constitutional issues will be tested as part of the formal interview process. The Clerk of the House is appointed by the Crown by Letters Patent, on the recommendation of the Speaker to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister to the Crown. As part of normal pre-appointment checks it will be a requirement for the next Clerk of the House to be subject to security vetting. The terms of the recruitment brief were agreed by the Commission by correspondence, and the advertisement, finalised by the Speaker and the Director General of HR and Change, was based on the agreed brief.

Magna Carta: Anniversaries

David Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will incorporate into commemorations of the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta commemoration of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and the Putney debates in 1647 on how the country should be ruled.

John Thurso: Parliament will be managing a year-long programme to celebrate both the Magna Carta and De Montfort Parliament anniversaries in 2015. The programme will be entitled 'Parliament in the Making' and as such will include stories from throughout the last 800 years. Parliament is being advised on the content by the History of Parliament Trust. Through school resources, exhibitions, cultural projects and special events the significant moments, movements and individuals who have made a difference on the journey to rights and representation will be commemorated.
	The programme is still in development but plans do include an exhibition in Westminster Hall. Using large scale banners this will chart the evolution of parliamentary democracy which we hope will refer to the Putney debates and the Peasants' Revolt in the context of the fight for representation and freedoms.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces Covenant: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which charitable projects in Scotland have received funding from the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund to date.

Anna Soubry: holding answer 18 June 2014
	The allocation of some £35 million in LIBOR fines to the Ministry of Defence to support the armed forces community is just one example of the importance this Government places on the armed forces covenant.
	We have provided £5.5 million of funding for 12 Scottish projects. In addition, the armed forces community in Scotland will benefit from a number of UK-wide projects which have been allocated over £16 million of LIBOR funding.

Armed Forces: Vehicles

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of 2014DIN05-011 Claims and insurance provisions for the use of Ministry of Defence vehicles in the UK and overseas and the process for ordering new motor insurance certificates or green cards.

Philip Dunne: A copy of Defence Instruction Notice 2014DIN05-011 regarding claims and insurance provisions for the use of Ministry of Defence vehicles in the UK and overseas and the process for ordering new motor insurance certificates or green cards will be placed in the Library of the House.

Army: Recruitment

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014, page 17, if he will provide details of the eight options for force structures that his Department considered in 2011, and his Department's estimate of the savings each would have accrued.

Mark Francois: I am not able to provide the information requested, since to do so could adversely affect the formulation of future defence policy.

Chemical and Biological Warfare

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of 2014DIN03-007 Notification of a change in CBRN policy.

Philip Dunne: A copy of Defence Instruction Notice 2014DIN03-007 regarding the notification of a change in CBRN policy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Conflict Resolution: Females

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 318W, on conflict resolution: females, if he will publish in the Library the minutes of the meeting on this matter on (a) 24 February, (b) 5 March, (c) 20 March, (d) 18 March, (e) 19 March and (f) 13 March 2014.

Anna Soubry: holding answer 18 June 2014
	None of the meetings mentioned were convened by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). They were convened by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as the lead Department, or by the Department for International Development on behalf of the FCO and thus it is they who may have a record of the meetings; the MOD has no record of any formal minutes. However, the real output of these meetings was in the development of the UK’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security which was published by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the right hon. Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on 12 June at the Global Summit on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. This document is available from the FCO.

Electronic Warfare

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of 2014DIN03-010 Impact to outputs of defence electronic warfare centre due to five yearly electrical testing.

Philip Dunne: DIN reference 2014DIN03-010 “Impact to outputs of Defence Electronic Warfare Centre due to five yearly electrical testing” was cancelled and withdrawn by the sponsor on 22 April 2014.

Filton Airfield

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department owns any of the Filton Airfield site; and whether his Department will be entitled to any share of the site's sale.

Andrew Murrison: The Department does not own any of the Filton Airfield site and is not entitled to any share in the site's sale.

Medical Equipment

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of 2014DIN04-053 Declaration of obsolete-medical, central and veterinary equipments.

Philip Dunne: A copy of Defence Instruction Notice 2014DIN04-053 regarding the declaration of obsolete-medical, dental and veterinary equipments will be placed in the Library of the House.

Sea King Helicopters

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of 2014DIN04-056 Sea King Helicopter drawdown and disposal.

Philip Dunne: A copy of Defence Instruction Notice 2014DIN04-056 regarding Sea King Helicopter drawdown and disposal will be placed in the Library of the House.